Leaves of Change
Leaves of Change is a quarterly bulletin that focuses on our science delivery activities, research projects, and partner activities. This bulletin is sent out electronically through the InterfaceSouth listserve, which you can join by clicking here.
Issue : 10 Oct 17, 2011
Forest ecosystem services (benefits provided by forests to people and other living organisms) result from a variety of ecosystem processes and functions. Yet, the availability and the potential to provide these services do not depend on forest processes and functions alone. They also depend on policies, regulations, decisions, and actions people make regarding the use and management of forests and the services forests provide. In this issue we highlight a collaborative research project that integrated different stakeholders that use and affect El Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rico and its ecosystem services. The techniques and products developed from this study can be used by natural resource managers, specialists, and researchers of other national and state forests to better understand peoples’ knowledge and awareness of ecosystem services and the factors affecting these services.
Issue : 9 Jun 02, 2011
Cultural Issues in Forest Management
Extension programs and forest management assistance plans have traditionally had difficulty reaching most forest landowners. In many cases, the same group of engaged and motivated landowners show up for all extension and outreach events and meetings. Minority forest landowners and forest landowners with limited resources have been especially underserved by extension programs and forest management assistance plans. Recent changes in forest ownership—including smaller tracts of forest land, urban and exurban development, and declines in the proportion of farmers among forest landowners—have made it even more difficult to reach forest landowners. However, social science research can help us increase our understanding of the diverse values and practices of forest landowners, ultimately helping us to improve our ability to engage and communicate with a wider audience. In this issue, we highlight a research project headed by John Schelhas (SRS-4952 natural resource sociologist) that is helping to describe social networks among African American forest landowners as well as forest and land values and identities, forest practices, and forest histories. The findings of this project are helping to illuminate a crucial disconnect in forestry and extension efforts, and have subsequently led to outreach efforts designed specifically to connect with underserved landowner groups.
Issue : 8 Dec 17, 2010
Putting a Value on the Urban Forest
Urban foresters have long known of the benefits that urban trees provide to communities from reducing the heat island effect, controlling runoff, and improving air quality. However, most have struggled to get other city officials to view urban forestry programs as much more than a beautification program. Now, using a suite of software tools called i-Tree, urban foresters can put a dollar figure on the environmental services that the tree canopy provides to a city, and provide support for their argument that the urban forest is a valuable part of the urban infrastructure, and, as such, deserves substantial investment for improvement and maintenance. This issue of Leaves of Change focuses on the work that Urban Forestry South and partners are doing to put i-Tree to use in support of urban forestry programs and communities across the South.
Issue : 7 Sep 15, 2010
Outdoor Recreation in the South
This issue of Leaves of Change focuses on outdoor recreation in the South, specifically focusing on the economic benefits that recreational trails can bring to communities. Michael Bowker, one of our research social scientists, has been studying the role of trail tourism in sparking economic life into rural areas in the South. In the case of the Virginia Creeper Trail, a railroad line built to haul harvested timber has been converted into a widely popular biking trail that has helped to revitalize communities who have suffered from economic shifts in the region.
Issue : 6 Jan 20, 2010
Social Dimensions of Wildfire Risk
Information about biological and physical aspects of wildfire risk is readily available, and the corresponding hazards of wildfire to human well-being are well understood. Much less is known about the varying social dimensions of wildfire risk. For example, research studies that investigate both biophysical and social characteristics of communities have been conducted in wildfire prone areas of the southwest, but few studies have examined this association in the southern United States. The combination of biophysical and social risk analysis can provide state and federal forestry agencies, as well as other entities engaged with wildland fire risk, with an added layer of information to help identify and target communities for mitigation programs and information campaigns. This issue of Leaves of Change focuses on work that members of our centers and our partners are conducting to address the critical need for research and information related to the social dimensions of wildfire risk in the South.
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Emerging Issues 3 ConferenceIssue : 5 Aug 24, 2009
WUI Professional Development for the South
Natural resource agencies are being called upon to provide solutions to increasingly complex challenges at the wildland-urban interface (WUI). Communities are growing rapidly, landowners’ management goals often conflict, residents may not understand the benefits of resource management, and the resulting risks to environmental quality and human quality of life are becoming more apparent. These changes call for natural resource professionals to learn new skills and techniques. This issue of Leaves of Change focuses on the Changing Roles: WUI Professional Development Program that was developed to address the critical need for professional development related to wildland-urban interface issues in the South.
Issue : 4 Mar 19, 2009
Latinos and Natural Resources in the South
Several studies have pointed to differences between various ethnic and cultural groups with respect to how they use and value natural resources, an important consideration when developing natural resource programs. For example, many studies have documented that there are differences between the participation and preferences of African-American, Latino, and Anglo users of urban parks and forests. This issue of Leaves of Change focuses on work that members of our centers and our partners are conducting to address the critical need for research and information related to the interaction between Latinos and natural resources in the South.
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Gui Rapida de Arbustos FirewiseIssue : 3 May 19, 2008
Minimizing the Impacts of Catastrophic Events
In this issue we highlight many of the activities that the Forest Service and partners in the Southern Region are undertaking to help make communities safer and minimize the impact of natural disasters on multiple fronts, through research, science delivery, training, and practical applications.
Issue : 2 Dec 07, 2007
Fire in the Wildland-Urban Interface
One of the major issues in the southern wildland-urban interface is the loss of homes to wildfire. While fire control agencies play an important role in fire prevention and the protection of homes, there are actions that individual homeowners can take to reduce the vulnerability of their home to wildfire. Creating an area of defensible space is one of the most important actions. Recommendations for defensible space suggest maintaining an area extending at least 30 feet outward from a house with plants that are low in flammability. Selecting landscape plants and mulches based on their flammability is a challenge since there are few existing plant guides that list firewise plants or rank them by their flammability. Mulches have been little studied as well. This issue focuses on the work that InterfaceSouth has been doing to address this critical need for research and information related to fire in the wildland-urban interface.
Issue : 1 Aug 13, 2007
Centers for Urban and Interface Forestry
The Centers for Urban and Interface Forestry (CUIF) is the result of an integration of two existing centers, formerly know as the Southern Center for Urban Forestry Research and Information in Athens, Georgia, and the Southern Center for Wildland-Urban Interface Research and Information in Gainesville, Florida. This integration combines expertise in urban forestry and wildland-urban interface (WUI) issues for the southern region and nationwide. CUIF is part of the Southern Research Station research work unit SRS-4952: Integrating Human and Natural Systems in Urban and Urbanizing Environments. The urban forestry component of CUIF is now called Urban Forestry South and the WUI component is InterfaceSouth.
