TY - JOUR
T1 - Forest density preferences of homebuyers in the wildland-urban interface
AU - Hjerpe, Evan
AU - Kim, Yeon Su
AU - Dunn, Leah
N1 - Funding Information:
We would like to thank Courtney Green for assistance, Diane Vosick for reviewing our work, and CoreLogic for data assistance. We appreciate a review and modeling advice from Anwar Hussain. We also appreciate anonymous referees for their comments on previous drafts of this manuscript. This research was funded by a grant from the USDA Forest Service through the Ecological Restoration Institute (ERI) at Northern Arizona University (NAU) and by ERI . NAU is an equal opportunity provider. In accordance with Federal law and U.S. Department of Agriculture policy, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 The Authors.
PY - 2016/9/1
Y1 - 2016/9/1
N2 - In the fire-prone Western U.S., the scale of surrounding forest density can be realized by homebuyers as an amenity for aesthetics and cooling effects, or as a disamenity in terms of wildfire risk. There has been a lack of academic attention to understanding this duality of forest density preferences for homebuyers in at-risk Wildland Urban Interfaces (WUIs). To fill this gap, we investigated the influence of forest density on WUI house sales in four high fire-risk zones in dry, mixed conifer forests of the Western U.S with a spatial hedonic pricing model. Explanatory attributes related to house structure, neighborhood, and environmental amenities were assessed, along with a set of WUI variables that included forest density ranges at two buffer levels- a 100 m radius level and a 500 m radius level. Results indicate a strong preference for lower forest density at the 100 m level, but a countering preference for higher forest density at the larger 500 m buffer. These findings suggest the need to reconsider broad approaches in public awareness campaigns and regional planning, as well as fire management policies and strategies. Preference for higher density forests implies that if left to homeowners, fuel treatments in public spaces will be underinvested.
AB - In the fire-prone Western U.S., the scale of surrounding forest density can be realized by homebuyers as an amenity for aesthetics and cooling effects, or as a disamenity in terms of wildfire risk. There has been a lack of academic attention to understanding this duality of forest density preferences for homebuyers in at-risk Wildland Urban Interfaces (WUIs). To fill this gap, we investigated the influence of forest density on WUI house sales in four high fire-risk zones in dry, mixed conifer forests of the Western U.S with a spatial hedonic pricing model. Explanatory attributes related to house structure, neighborhood, and environmental amenities were assessed, along with a set of WUI variables that included forest density ranges at two buffer levels- a 100 m radius level and a 500 m radius level. Results indicate a strong preference for lower forest density at the 100 m level, but a countering preference for higher forest density at the larger 500 m buffer. These findings suggest the need to reconsider broad approaches in public awareness campaigns and regional planning, as well as fire management policies and strategies. Preference for higher density forests implies that if left to homeowners, fuel treatments in public spaces will be underinvested.
KW - Forest density
KW - Hedonic pricing
KW - Wildfire economics
KW - Wildland-urban interface (WUI)
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84971542668&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84971542668&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.forpol.2016.05.012
DO - 10.1016/j.forpol.2016.05.012
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84971542668
SN - 1389-9341
VL - 70
SP - 56
EP - 66
JO - Forest Policy and Economics
JF - Forest Policy and Economics
ER -