16A.22
S,N - A New Wildland-Urban Interface Center for the South
L. Annie Hermansen, USDA Forest Service, Gainesville, FL; and E. Macie
The USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station has begun an interdisciplinary, regional program of research and technology transfer to address critical wildland-urban interface issues. This Southern Center for Wildland-Urban Interface Research and Information of the USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station (SRS) was recently established in January 2002 in Gainesville, FL. Key partners in this effort include the USDA Forest Service Southern Region, University of Florida’s School of Forest Resources and Conservation, and the Southern Group of State Foresters.
The 1998 Florida wildfires demonstrated the complexities of natural resource management in the changing wildland-urban interface and spurred the development of the USDA Forest Service Southern Wildland-Urban Interface Assessment. This regional assessment described the causes and effects of increased human influences on southern forest ecosystems, and identified new research, education, and management option needs. Assessment topics include population and demographic trends; economic and taxation issues; land use planning and policy; urban influences on forest ecosystems; challenges to forest resource management and conservation; social consequences of change; and fire in the wildland-urban interface. The main purpose of this assessment was to provide the foundation for establishing the new Center.
The Center will focus initially on developing, applying, and exchanging information about critical interface issues, serving a diverse audience of natural resource agencies, planning departments, local policy makers, and private forest land and homeowners. An important component of the Center is the interactive website, Interface South (www.interfacesouth.usda.gov), which will serve as a clearinghouse of information about fire and other interface issues. The website will also help to coordinate and facilitate exchange of information. In future years, the Center will expand to include research in areas such as public policy, urban ecology, risk management, and land use planning.
Session 16A, Other
Wednesday, 9 October 2002, 1:30 PM-1:30 AM
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