Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Failure To Communicate: Inefficiencies In Voluntary Incentive Programs For Private Forest Owners In Michigan, Mark. D. Rouleau, Jennifer F. Lind-Riehl, Miranda N. Smith, Audrey L. Mayer

College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science Publications

Coordinating forest management across thousands of nonindustrial private forest (NIPF) owners is a difficult yet necessary task for state land management agencies. Voluntary Incentive Programs (VIPs) can coordinate the decentralized activities of these owners in return for services or financial incentives. However, many VIPs typically have low enrollment. Our study investigates the implementation of VIPs to increase forest management coordination among NIPFs in Michigan. We present findings from 20 semi-structured interviews with leaders of state and local land management organizations, and government officials at state natural resource agencies, and contrast their answers with those recorded from 37 interviews of NIPF …

Using An Obcd Approach And Landsat Tm Data To Detect Harvesting On Nonindustrial Private Property In Upper Michigan, Riccardo Tortini, Audrey L. Mayer, Pieralberto Maianti

College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science Publications

Forest dynamics influence climate, biodiversity, and livelihoods at multiple scales, yet current resource policy addressing these dynamics is ineffective without reliable land use land cover change data. The collective impact of harvest decisions by many small forest owners can be substantial at the landscape scale, yet monitoring harvests and regrowth in these forests is challenging. Remote sensing is an obvious route to detect and monitor small-scale land use dynamics over large areas. Using an annual series of Landsat-5 Thematic Mapper (TM) images and a GIS shapefile of property boundaries, we identified units where harvests occurred from 2005 to 2011 using …

No Fracking Way! A Study On The Spatial Patterns Of And Changes In Perception And Distance From A Michigan Horizontal Hydraulic Fracturing Site, Shannon Mcewen

Masters Theses

The research investigates whether Michigan residents' perception of risk from an oil and natural gas (ONG) well site that employs the use of horizontal hydraulic fracturing (fracking) changes with distance. The research goal is to determine if residents that live farther from a fracking site perceive it to be more dangerous than those who live closer. Secondary research goals include determining if increasing distance from a fracking site cause residents to overestimate their proximity to a fracking site and if gender and education levels have an effect on residents' perception levels. Data were collected from residents in three counties in …

Offshore Wind Energy: Public Perspectives And Policy Considerations, Erik Edward Nordman

Erik Edward Nordman

West Michigan Wind Assessment Issue Brief #3 This brief examines the social issues related to offshore wind energy including public acceptance, visibility, noise, and tourism. The final section reviews wind energy policy and regulatory issues in Michigan's Great Lakes.

Pooling For Horizontal Wells: Can They Teach An Old Dog New Tricks?, Bruce M. Kramer

Shale Plays in the Intermountain West: Legal and Policy Issues (November 12)

74 pages.

This paper was originally published as:

Bruce M. Kramer, “Pooling for Horizontal Wells: Can They Teach an Old Dog New Tricks?,” 55 Rocky Mt. Min. L. Inst. 8-1, § 8.05 (2009).

Wind Energy Deployment: Global Lessons For West Michigan, Erik Edward Nordman

Erik Edward Nordman

West Michigan Wind Assessment Issue Brief #1 This first of series of issue briefs summarizes the factors that have influenced wind energy deployment across the country and around the world. It also brings the lessons home to West Michigan's coastal zone.

Wind Power And Human Health: Flicker, Noise And Air Quality, Erik Edward Nordman

Erik Edward Nordman

West Michigan Wind Assessment Issue Brief #2 The second of a series of wind energy issue briefs synthesizes the state of the science around wind energy siting issues like flicker and noise, and analyzes how West Michigan communities are addressing these challenges. The issue brief also assesses how wind energy could improve air quality and human health outcomes in West Michigan and the region.

Regional Response To A Statewide Renewable Energy Standard: Status And Trends Of Wind Energy Development In West Michigan, Erik Edward Nordman

Erik Edward Nordman

This project used integrated assessment to explore and analyze regional response to Michigan’s renewable portfolio standard (RPS). The RPS required electric providers to generate ten-percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2015. Wind was identified as a primary source of renewable energy, and much of the state’s wind resources are concentrated in the West Michigan coastal zone. About 28 percent of the state’s planned wind generation capacity is located in the four-county study area. Local governments vary in their current regulations for siting utility-scale wind farms, as well as in their attitudes toward them. The region has significant offshore …

Slides: Next Evolutionary Steps In State Instream Flow Programs, Lawrence J. Macdonnell

Western Water Law, Policy and Management: Ripples, Currents, and New Channels for Inquiry (Martz Summer Conference, June 3-5)

Presenter: Lawrence J. MacDonnell, attorney and consultant, Boulder, CO

27 slides

Slides: Forest And Rangeland Planning, Nepa Analysis And Decisions, Glenn Casamassa

The Future of Natural Resources Law and Policy (Summer Conference, June 6-8)

Presenter: Glenn Casamassa, Forest Supervisor, Arapahoe-Roosevelt National Forest

17 slides

Community Forests: A Perspective, Robert Mccullough

Community-Owned Forests: Possibilities, Experiences, and Lessons Learned (June 16-19)

22 pages.

"Robert McCullough teaches in the University of Vermont Graduate Program in Historic Preservation. He wrote The Landscape of Community: Communal Forests in New England."

Slides: The Trust For Public Land: Conserving Land For People, Ernest Cook

Community-Owned Forests: Possibilities, Experiences, and Lessons Learned (June 16-19)

Presenter: Ernest Cook, Senior Vice President, Conservation Finance Program, The Trust for Public Land, Boston, MA

19 slides

Slides: Coolbough Natural Areas: Community Forest, Brooks Township, Michigan, Dale Block

Community-Owned Forests: Possibilities, Experiences, and Lessons Learned (June 16-19)

Presenter: Dale Block, Brooks Township Forest, MI

35 slides