GeographyRN: Other Physical Geography (Topic), 2018
This article provides both basic structure for engaging wildfire planning in WUI communities whil... more This article provides both basic structure for engaging wildfire planning in WUI communities while arguing for the importance of utilizing informal governance structures in disaster planning. This is especially true in the smaller rural communities that often still predominate at the edge of urban areas. In such rural communities, informal governance structures can often have a significant role to play in whether disaster planning is successful, often more so than the formalized legal codes of the local government. The article briefly describes the crisis of wildfire in the WUI as development, especially in the West, encroaches further into wildlands and wilderness. The article then summarizes a traditional WUI wildfire planning process, which the authors have previously presented in greater depth in other articles. The bulk of the article, however, seeks to investigate and propose another layer of engagement: the informal governance structures of rural communities. The article does...
University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review, 2018
I. INTRODUCTION Never has disaster planning been more important than in this time of the climate'... more I. INTRODUCTION Never has disaster planning been more important than in this time of the climate's change. In the western United States, climate change has produced a number of stark effects already evident. None, however, is more dramatic than wildfire's growth from seasonal annoyance to nearly yearround threat to life.' These climatic changes butt up against the West's extraordinary population growth, which brings the urban edge of population
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were consistently documented in the sediments of the cana... more Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were consistently documented in the sediments of the canals draining into Biscayne Bay. The study examines the contribution of urban runoff to PAHs discharges. Subtropical climatic conditions associated with prolonged dry seasons often exacerbate the problem of PAHs pollution as the initial storms of the wet season wash off pollutants accumulated over time. Road runoff samples were collected at two sites with different levels of traffic at the end and at the beginning of the wet season. Storm-event mass first flush was found to occur inconsistently. Higher levels of PAH pollution were found at both sites after an extended dry season. The Kendall's tau test used to measure the association between antecedent dry days and flow-weighted PAH concentrations were found to be statistically significant. The correlation between traffic intensity and PAHs levels in road runoff was found not to be statistically significant. High-molecular-weight PAHs originating in vehicle exhaust emissions appeared to dominate PAH concentrations in road runoff. The Friedman's test showed overall similarity in PAHs composition profiles between seasons with the exception of low-molecular weight PAHs.
Historically, the planning profession has focused on the problems of urban areas and largely igno... more Historically, the planning profession has focused on the problems of urban areas and largely ignored the issues of rural areas. Within the planning profession, rural places are most often seen as those yet to become urban. Consequently, planners not only ignore the needs of rural populations but also overlook the importance of rural landscapes for food production. Rural areas and their natural amenities are now an appealing alternative for wealthy urbanites trying to escape from high housing prices and congested cities. This paper highlights the planning crisis in rural areas, including how the conversion and loss of agricultural lands is directly driven by poorly considered application of traditional planning tools. This paper asserts that if planners continue to use urban planning tools to address rural issues, they will have actively contributed to the demise of rural landscapes. Rural contexts beg for place-based approaches that acknowledge land and lifestyle challenges of non-urban space. Without a change of approach, planners will continue to play a central role in the conversion of productive rural lands to residential development, perpetuating a crisis of planning.
This guide provides practical advice for those seeking to use land use planning and incentives to... more This guide provides practical advice for those seeking to use land use planning and incentives to address wildfire in the wild-land-urban interface, especially in Idaho and the Western United States. The guide offers a conceptual framework that local communities — governmental and non-governmental — can use over time. The framework, which this guide calls the “WUI Wildfire Planning Process,” consists primarily of a four-step, cyclical planning process that revolves around the inter-governmental National Cohesive Strategy Vision and Goals for wildfire, and is supported at all times by education and outreach. Although little known outside of the fire community, the National Cohesive Strategy Goals are simple, but important, goals established through a five year planning process (2009 to 2014) in which federal agencies, state, tribal and local governments, as well as non-governmental partners, built a common vision of how the country could address wildfire. The three goals of the Cohesive Strategy are maintaining landscapes; developing fire-adapted communities; and developing a multi-jurisdictional wildfire response based upon risk-based decision-making. These Cohesive Strategy Goals are the core around which the WUI Wildfire Planning Process revolves. The four active steps of the WUI Wildfire Planning Process, which the guide discusses in great depth, are: draft and adopt a community wildfire protection plan (CWPP); regulate and incentivize the built environment at all scales; implement, maintain and enforce regulations and incentives; and respond to substantial changes such as wildfires or the passage of time. Numerous examples and best practices are provided for each of these steps throughout the guide. The guide’s discussion of wildfire law and policy is also enriched by the inclusion of a robust risk perception survey, which was conducted by surveying nearly 20,000 Idaho households in wildfire priority areas throughout the state in Fall, 2015 and Winter, 2016. The guide provides significant helpful data worthy of investigation. The guide is further supplemented by a robust appendix of over 30 wildfire code provisions from throughout Idaho and the West that provide a start for any local government seeking a resource of models from which to draft wildfire codes. While the guide is intended to further wildfire planning specifically in Idaho, many of the techniques discussed, including the WUI Wildfire Planning Process outlined by the guide, are potentially valuable references for local communities throughout the West. This final version of the guide updates a previous draft version and responds to comments by those participating in community meetings held throughout the State of Idaho in 2019.
This paper discusses and evaluates the Community Outreach Environmental Leadership Training (COEL... more This paper discusses and evaluates the Community Outreach Environmental Leadership Training (COELT) program in southeast Florida. The program provides environmental and leadership training to residents in low-income and minority neighborhoods in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. The goal of the program is to train a cadre of environmental leaders who will develop environmental consciousness and a greater sense of environmental stewardship and accountability in their neighborhoods. The program has been effective in raising awareness of environmental issues among minority and lowincome residents, as well as increasing par ticipation in environmental decision-making. This paper explores the reasons for the program's success and shows how other programs can benefit.
where be teaches environmental planning and policy. His main inlerr!sts are sustainable developme... more where be teaches environmental planning and policy. His main inlerr!sts are sustainable development, environmental justice and the "urban environment."
Community-university partnerships are an established concept but are not typically central to the... more Community-university partnerships are an established concept but are not typically central to the core planning curriculum. This study highlights a model of teaching innovation, Integrated Community Planning Core, where the core directly supports the departmental mission by bridging research and practice. The article explains the curriculum development process and assesses its ability to serve community, student, and faculty needs. Data collected from focus groups, student reflection papers, and practicing planner debriefings demonstrate the model is modestly successful, but adaptations are needed to communicate the value to students, the planning academy, and the university.
GeographyRN: Other Physical Geography (Topic), 2018
This article provides both basic structure for engaging wildfire planning in WUI communities whil... more This article provides both basic structure for engaging wildfire planning in WUI communities while arguing for the importance of utilizing informal governance structures in disaster planning. This is especially true in the smaller rural communities that often still predominate at the edge of urban areas. In such rural communities, informal governance structures can often have a significant role to play in whether disaster planning is successful, often more so than the formalized legal codes of the local government. The article briefly describes the crisis of wildfire in the WUI as development, especially in the West, encroaches further into wildlands and wilderness. The article then summarizes a traditional WUI wildfire planning process, which the authors have previously presented in greater depth in other articles. The bulk of the article, however, seeks to investigate and propose another layer of engagement: the informal governance structures of rural communities. The article does...
University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review, 2018
I. INTRODUCTION Never has disaster planning been more important than in this time of the climate'... more I. INTRODUCTION Never has disaster planning been more important than in this time of the climate's change. In the western United States, climate change has produced a number of stark effects already evident. None, however, is more dramatic than wildfire's growth from seasonal annoyance to nearly yearround threat to life.' These climatic changes butt up against the West's extraordinary population growth, which brings the urban edge of population
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were consistently documented in the sediments of the cana... more Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were consistently documented in the sediments of the canals draining into Biscayne Bay. The study examines the contribution of urban runoff to PAHs discharges. Subtropical climatic conditions associated with prolonged dry seasons often exacerbate the problem of PAHs pollution as the initial storms of the wet season wash off pollutants accumulated over time. Road runoff samples were collected at two sites with different levels of traffic at the end and at the beginning of the wet season. Storm-event mass first flush was found to occur inconsistently. Higher levels of PAH pollution were found at both sites after an extended dry season. The Kendall's tau test used to measure the association between antecedent dry days and flow-weighted PAH concentrations were found to be statistically significant. The correlation between traffic intensity and PAHs levels in road runoff was found not to be statistically significant. High-molecular-weight PAHs originating in vehicle exhaust emissions appeared to dominate PAH concentrations in road runoff. The Friedman's test showed overall similarity in PAHs composition profiles between seasons with the exception of low-molecular weight PAHs.
Historically, the planning profession has focused on the problems of urban areas and largely igno... more Historically, the planning profession has focused on the problems of urban areas and largely ignored the issues of rural areas. Within the planning profession, rural places are most often seen as those yet to become urban. Consequently, planners not only ignore the needs of rural populations but also overlook the importance of rural landscapes for food production. Rural areas and their natural amenities are now an appealing alternative for wealthy urbanites trying to escape from high housing prices and congested cities. This paper highlights the planning crisis in rural areas, including how the conversion and loss of agricultural lands is directly driven by poorly considered application of traditional planning tools. This paper asserts that if planners continue to use urban planning tools to address rural issues, they will have actively contributed to the demise of rural landscapes. Rural contexts beg for place-based approaches that acknowledge land and lifestyle challenges of non-urban space. Without a change of approach, planners will continue to play a central role in the conversion of productive rural lands to residential development, perpetuating a crisis of planning.
This guide provides practical advice for those seeking to use land use planning and incentives to... more This guide provides practical advice for those seeking to use land use planning and incentives to address wildfire in the wild-land-urban interface, especially in Idaho and the Western United States. The guide offers a conceptual framework that local communities — governmental and non-governmental — can use over time. The framework, which this guide calls the “WUI Wildfire Planning Process,” consists primarily of a four-step, cyclical planning process that revolves around the inter-governmental National Cohesive Strategy Vision and Goals for wildfire, and is supported at all times by education and outreach. Although little known outside of the fire community, the National Cohesive Strategy Goals are simple, but important, goals established through a five year planning process (2009 to 2014) in which federal agencies, state, tribal and local governments, as well as non-governmental partners, built a common vision of how the country could address wildfire. The three goals of the Cohesive Strategy are maintaining landscapes; developing fire-adapted communities; and developing a multi-jurisdictional wildfire response based upon risk-based decision-making. These Cohesive Strategy Goals are the core around which the WUI Wildfire Planning Process revolves. The four active steps of the WUI Wildfire Planning Process, which the guide discusses in great depth, are: draft and adopt a community wildfire protection plan (CWPP); regulate and incentivize the built environment at all scales; implement, maintain and enforce regulations and incentives; and respond to substantial changes such as wildfires or the passage of time. Numerous examples and best practices are provided for each of these steps throughout the guide. The guide’s discussion of wildfire law and policy is also enriched by the inclusion of a robust risk perception survey, which was conducted by surveying nearly 20,000 Idaho households in wildfire priority areas throughout the state in Fall, 2015 and Winter, 2016. The guide provides significant helpful data worthy of investigation. The guide is further supplemented by a robust appendix of over 30 wildfire code provisions from throughout Idaho and the West that provide a start for any local government seeking a resource of models from which to draft wildfire codes. While the guide is intended to further wildfire planning specifically in Idaho, many of the techniques discussed, including the WUI Wildfire Planning Process outlined by the guide, are potentially valuable references for local communities throughout the West. This final version of the guide updates a previous draft version and responds to comments by those participating in community meetings held throughout the State of Idaho in 2019.
This paper discusses and evaluates the Community Outreach Environmental Leadership Training (COEL... more This paper discusses and evaluates the Community Outreach Environmental Leadership Training (COELT) program in southeast Florida. The program provides environmental and leadership training to residents in low-income and minority neighborhoods in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. The goal of the program is to train a cadre of environmental leaders who will develop environmental consciousness and a greater sense of environmental stewardship and accountability in their neighborhoods. The program has been effective in raising awareness of environmental issues among minority and lowincome residents, as well as increasing par ticipation in environmental decision-making. This paper explores the reasons for the program's success and shows how other programs can benefit.
where be teaches environmental planning and policy. His main inlerr!sts are sustainable developme... more where be teaches environmental planning and policy. His main inlerr!sts are sustainable development, environmental justice and the "urban environment."
Community-university partnerships are an established concept but are not typically central to the... more Community-university partnerships are an established concept but are not typically central to the core planning curriculum. This study highlights a model of teaching innovation, Integrated Community Planning Core, where the core directly supports the departmental mission by bridging research and practice. The article explains the curriculum development process and assesses its ability to serve community, student, and faculty needs. Data collected from focus groups, student reflection papers, and practicing planner debriefings demonstrate the model is modestly successful, but adaptations are needed to communicate the value to students, the planning academy, and the university.
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