Ecosystem Service Supply and Capacity on U.S. Family Forestlands

Individuals and families collectively own more than 118 million ha of forestland in the USA. Using data from the USDA Forest Service’s National Woodland Owners Survey (NWOS), we characterize ecosystem services being produced on family forests as well as the beneficiaries who enjoy them. Approximately half of family forest owners provide one or more provisioning services. With the exception of logs, the provisioning services provided by the majority of owners are enjoyed directly by owners or their close associates (i.e., family, friends, and neighbors). Similarly, while more than half of family forest owners have provided recreational opportunities, a cultural service, to their close associates, fewer than 6% of owners have sold or provided recreational services to the general public. Regulating and supporting services are linked to the maintenance of long-term forest cover. Greater than 80% of family forest owners desire to maintain the forested condition of their land, whereas a much smaller percentage of these owners have entered into conservation easements or have collected money for conservation purposes. In addition, many owners have engaged in activities expected to increase the future capacity of their land to provide multiple ecosystem services, both excludable and non-excludable

What Influences Whether Family Forest Owners Participate in Outreach Campaigns?

We used an experimental design to analyze factors affecting participation rates for family forest owner outreach campaigns. Through logistic regression, we assessed the participation rates as a function of campaign and landowner attributes. Participation rates ranged from 3% to 14%. Owners offered a publication were on average 4.3 times more likely to participate than those offered a forester visit. Owners with a college degree were on average 1.5 times more likely to participate than those with lower levels of formal education. Extension and other outreach professionals can use knowledge of these factors to design more effective outreach campaigns

Virtual military markets

This thesis explores the utility of market mechanisms for Department of Defense (DOD) command, control, communication and collaboration (C4). Shortfalls in current C4 systems found by the Defense Science Board, Office of Force Transformation, and Command and Control Research Program are presented. Alternative C4 internal market structures that can help achieve the principles of Network-Centric Operations are illustrated. Then, using the principles of mathematical model development, the thesis builds a testable "E-Bay" type model for applying markets in the DOD. The model is not validated or tested in the space of this thesis and should undergo experimentation. Next, this thesis walks through an intelligence use case and presents a number of testable hypotheses for model validation. Two Appendices are included, the first discusses decision making in markets by taking existing decision making tools to show how the cycle of information can be improved for the decision making commander in market transaction space. The second appendix is a briefing that highlights the key points of the Virtual Military Market (VMM) and the intelligence use case. The thesis concludes that "practiced adhocracy" and improved decision making can be achieved by the VMM and that DOD should explore this concept further.http://archive.org/details/virtualmilitarym109452000Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited

The Lightbringer: A Novel

The Lightbringer is about a collision of two worlds: the world of a contemporary South Florida town and the magical world of Zariel, bringing with it the universal threat of the Terra. Childhood friends, Breck and Tom, are thrown into the middle of an ancient conflict between the Terra—a collection of alien races that have been transformed by darkness—and the forces of good. After an encounter with a magical pool of golden water, the boys must learn to use their new abilities to protect against the growing Terranox army. In the midst of their struggle, however, a mysterious companion—the Lightbringer, one of the few remaining Lightborne—arrives to help them survive the invasion and to guide them while they search for the one who can help them save the world. While facing the ever-increasing threat of the Terra, Breck comes to grips with his origins and his destiny as the Lightbringer who is said to overthrow the Terra once and for all

Learner-to-educator feedback; acquiescence bias, reliability and learner opinion.

There is considerable research on the topic of providing feedback to students. Practices such as formative and summative feedback are well researched and have in fact become part of the lexicon of modern pedagogy. The provision of educator to learner feedback (ELF) is one of the key ways students know where they stand in a module or programme and based on this feedback can alter course or focus concentration as necessary. There is less research being conducted in the area of Learner to Educator Feedback (LEF), which learners provide to educators and Institutions, specifically on how this is gathered, influenced, and utilized. There is a particular lack of study on student perception of LEF and the LEF process itself. This also needs to be addressed. Just as ELF can be [should be] pivotal in a learner’s progress in a module or programme, LEF should be a central influence over decisions about improving module and programme delivery. If this feedback is not gathered in a fair and transparent manner, if it is biased, not robust, or not utilized and acted upon correctly, the educator has failed in responding to feedback in the very manner that students are expected to respond to feedback provided to them. Most of all, if learners do not have a positive opinion or response to the feedback they have provided, if they feel that it has not been heeded, they may lose faith in the system. This also may have the consequence of negatively affecting future feedback provided, either consciously or unconsciously. This paper describes a study in the LEF process involving five cohorts of students: B.Sc. I, II, and IV in Computing Science, M.Sc. in Computing Science (MSCC) and M.Sc. in Digital Media (MSCDM) at Griffith College Dublin, in the spring semester of 2011. Over 150 students participated, providing feedback on 23 modules spread across three programmes. A total of exactly 700 forms were analysed during the course of the study which involved the following aspects of LEF: o Robustness, particularly reliability o Acquiescence bias – how does the wording and presentation of questions on a feedback questionnaire introduce bias? Do positively and negatively worded questionnaires measure the same thing? o Do students prefer to fill out paper or online feedback questionnaires? What are the pros and cons of each? o What are student perceptions on the following length and complexity of feedback questionnaires? o Do non-native English speakers feel they have difficulty in providing feedback due to English-language difficulty? o Did students feel that mid-semester feedback had been taken into account by the end of the semester? o Did students feel that the feedback process could be improved with their input

Black Family Forest Owners in the Southeastern United States: A Case Study in Six Counties

The USDA Forest Service, National Woodland Owner Survey asks family forest owners (FFOs) about their attitudes and intentions regarding their forestland. Historically, the number of responses from Black or African American FFOs has been very low, but it is uncertain whether this is because of nonresponse bias or that there are relatively few Black FFOs. To get a better understanding of these FFOs and to test a method to increase response rates, an intensified survey effort was conducted in three southern states: Alabama, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Analyses indicate that Black FFOs have slightly different objectives, activities, and ownership structure for their forestland than their White counterparts, who have traditionally represented the majority of FFOs. Study Implications: By conducting an experiment to increase response rates from Black family forest owners to the National Woodland Owner Survey, we find traditional methodology is not effective. More importantly, we see this group has moderately different responses than their White counterparts. This has wide ranging implications for landowner assistance programs and other initiatives that have been designed on the premise that we are accurately capturing responses from all woodland owners

The timber harvesting behavior of family forest owners

To increase our understanding of the timber harvesting behavior of family forest owners, I developed theoretical and empirical timber harvesting models for family forest owners in the southeastern United States. An individual-choice model was the basis for the models. Family forest owners were modeled as utility-maximizers who made harvesting decisions by balancing amenity and profit values. The relative weights of these values were determined by owners' personal preferences (e.g., forest ownership objectives). Harvesting was modeled as a function of these weightings and biophysical and socioeconomic variables. The three owner groups identified in the theoretical model - profit, multiple-objective, and amenity - were incorporated in the empirical models. Data from forest inventories and forest owner surveys conducted by the USDA Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis program were used in logistic regression harvesting models. Separate models were generated for all family forest owners and each of the family forest owner groups. Among the owner groups, harvesting propensity was highest for the profit group and lowest for the amenity group. Using information collected from on-the-ground forest surveys, stand structure variables, such as basal area and volume, were the most significant predictors of timber harvesting among the biophysical and socioeconomic variables tested. Other significant variables were stumpage values, the importance of timber production as an ownership objective, and whether owners lived within one mile of their forestland. Softwood sawtimber stumpage value, whether owners lived within one mile of their forestland, their incomes, whether they had management plans, and whether their forestland was managed by a professional forester were significant variables in the harvesting model for the profit group. Basal area, softwood sawtimber stumpage value, the importance of timber production as an ownership objective, whether owners lived within one mile of their forestland, and slope were significant for the multiple-objective group model. For the amenity group model, softwood pulpwood stumpage value and owners' incomes were significant variables. The results of the models were aggregated and implications for the region's timber supply were assessed for different scenarios. Continued shifts away from strong timber ownership objectives will likely decrease the flow of timber from family forestlands

Influence of Community Characteristics on Urban Forest Management Programs in New York State

US state and federal urban forest management agencies endeavor to support municipal forestry programs. However, the variation in programs within and among states may complicate support delivery. Municipal programs are often categorized by population size and community affluence to identify common characteristics and needs and facilitate support. To describe local urban forest management programs in New York State, a survey of municipalities gathered information on urban forest management program components, intentions, and needs. In addition to examining the contributions of population size and affluence, this study also evaluated the influence of metropolitan areas on programs in small municipalities and compared all community categorizations using national program standards. The survey revealed that a high percentage of municipalities plant and maintain trees. Nearly half of municipalities have tree inventories and street tree advisory boards, and a low percentage have an urban forest management plan. Almost all reported needing technical and educational assistance. Larger communities were more likely to have a comprehensive urban forest management program than medium-sized communities, and medium communities were more likely than small communities. Communities with high median household income (MHI) were more likely to have comprehensive urban forestry management programs than less affluent communities. However, low MHI and middle MHI communities had equivalent programs. Small municipalities in counties with large metropolitan areas possessed attributes similar to larger municipalities, compared to small communities in counties without these areas. This may indicate that proximity to a large metropolis has the potential to provide a small community with additional resources. These results suggest that smaller and less affluent communities, especially those outside counties containing large metropolitan areas, need more urban forest management assistance than larger and more affluent communities. However, all survey respondents indicated the need for support

Small-Area Estimation for the USDA Forest Service, National Woodland Owner Survey: Creating a Fine-Scale Land Cover and Ownership Layer to Support County-Level Population Estimates

Small area estimation is a powerful modeling technique in which ancillary data can be utilized to “borrow” additional information, effectively increasing sample sizes in small spatial, temporal, or categorical domains. Though more commonly applied to biophysical variables within the study of forest inventory analyses, small area estimation can also be implemented in the context of understanding social values, behaviors, and trends among types of forest landowners within small domains. Here, we demonstrate a method for deriving a continuous fine-scale land cover and ownership layer for the state of Delaware, United States, and an application of that ancillary layer to facilitate small-area estimation of several variables from the USDA Forest Service’s National Woodland Owner Survey. Utilizing a proprietary parcel layer alongside the National Land Cover Database, we constructed a continuous layer with 10-meter resolution depicting land cover and land ownership classes. We found that the National Woodland Owner Survey state-level estimations of total acreage and total ownerships by ownership class were generally within one standard error of the population values calculated from the raster layer, which supported the direct calculation of several population-level summary variables at the county levels. Subsequently, we compare design-based and model-based methods of predicting commercial harvesting by family forest ownerships in Delaware in which forest ownership acreage, taken from the parcel map, was utilized to inform the model-based approach. Results show general agreement between the two modes, indicating that a small area estimation approach can be utilized successfully in this context and shows promise for other variables, especially if additional variables, e.g., United States Census Bureau data, are also incorporated