LANDOWNER PERCEPTIONS OF WOODY PLANT ENCROACHMENT AND PRESCRIBED FIRE LIABILITY

Abstract

Prescribed fire is an affordable and effective tool in managing woody plant encroachment, but landowners’ liability perceptions contribute to their inconsistent application of fire. Personal liability concerns can be exacerbated or allayed by social and legal factors. This research focuses on the extent landowner perceptions regarding prescribed fire liability influence their willingness to participate in prescribed burns for woody plant management. Questionnaires mailed to 1918 landowners in 16 counties of Oklahoma and Texas evaluated several factors that might affect their willingness to burn. These include: attitudes concerning woody plants and fire; use of land management practices; knowledge about prescribed fire; Prescribed Burn Associations (PBAs) membership; and landowner characteristics. Membership in a PBA was positively correlated with landowner willingness to burn their own or a neighbor’s property while a perception of general personal liability was negatively related with willingness to burn. Percentage of income earned from rural property, place of residence, state of residence, education level, perceived relative affordability of prescribed fire as a woody plant management tool, and burn bans were all factors that significantly influenced landowner willingness to burn depending on situational context, i.e. on their property v. another person’s property. The results of this study contribute to our understanding of landowner decision-making with respect to social and legal concerns over prescribed fire and suggest a need for increased connection of landowners with local prescribed burn associations, communication between policy makers and landowners, and reduction of barriers to landowners who wish to apply prescribed fire.