Forest management and wildfire risk in inland northwest

This brief reports the results of a mail survey of forest landowners in northeastern Oregon conducted in the fall of 2012 by the Communities and Forests in Oregon (CAFOR) Project at the University of Colorado and the University of New Hampshire in cooperation with Oregon State University College of Forestry Extension. The mail survey--a follow-up to a telephone survey conducted for the counties of Baker, Union, and Wallowa in the fall of 2011 -was administered to understand who constituted forest landowners in these three coun¬ties and their perceptions about forest management on both public and private land, as well as risks to forests in the area and the actions they have taken to reduce those risks. The respondents indicated that they perceive wildfire as the greatest threat to their lands, and they consider cooperation with neighbors as very or extremely important for land management. Forest landowners believe public lands are managed poorly and see a greater risk of wildfire occurring on neighboring public land than on their own land. Their opinions on land management are not strongly related to background factors or ideology (for example, gender, age, political party, wealth) but may be heavily influenced by personal experience with wildfire

Pest Scene Investigators: A Peer-Learning Effort to Improve Forest Health in Oregon

Pest Scene Investigators is a new Oregon State University Extension education program designed to provide current Master Woodland Managers with specialized knowledge and skills in forest health assessment, diagnosis, and management. Seventy-nine volunteers participated in this pilot program from 2008-2010. The program effectively changed participant behavior on their own properties, with over 80% having thinned, planted alternative species, or assessed their land for forest pests and disease. However, participants showed little interest or confidence in helping other landowners or in doing forest health education. The program will re-tool to incorporate increased support and collaboration to increase confidence in providing volunteer service

The exchange of health and performance information when transitioning from club to National football teams: A Delphi survey of National team practitioners.

OBJECTIVES: To establish agreement in National team contexts when players transition from club to National team about (i) what medical and physical information to collect, (ii) how to use information (iii) identifying challenges to collection and (iv) collection methods. DESIGN: Delphi survey. METHODS: A series of sequential online questionnaires were sent to heads of medical and performance of the 32 National teams following the FIFA 2018 World Cup. Two separate Delphi's; 'Medical' and 'Physical' were administered. The 'Medical' respondent was the person responsible for player health. 'Physical' referred to the person responsible for physical performance. Content analyses were performed, with subsequent rounds designed according to responses of the previous. Agreement was considered at ≥70%. RESULTS: Twenty-three Medical (72%) and 14 (44%) Physical heads participated in Round 1 (3 rounds total). Seventeen Medical and 12 Physical respondents completed all rounds. Medical information agreed upon injury epidemiology, screening and injury treatment strategies. Physical information included training/match-loads, fatigue, wellness and current exercise programmes. Both Medical and Physical agreed information should be used to plan and individualise player programmes. Additionally medical information should guide coaches' national team selection. Communication, willingness to share and quality/completeness of information were agreed as main challenges. Medical and Physical respondents agreed a standardised reporting form and electronic shared database as best option to collect information. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings highlight the importance of health and performance information exchange between national and club teams. Further, this exchange should be cooperative, symbiotic and a two-way process to assist with improving player health

Above- and below-ground methane fluxes and methanotrophic activity in a landfill-cover soil

Landfills are a major anthropogenic source of the greenhouse gas methane (CH4). However, much of the CH4 produced during the anaerobic degradation of organic waste is consumed by methanotrophic micro-organisms during passage through the landfill-cover soil. On a section of a closed landfill near Liestal, Switzerland, we performed experiments to compare CH4 fluxes obtained by different methods at or above the cover-soil surface with below-ground fluxes, and to link methanotrophic activity to estimates of CH4 ingress (loading) from the waste body at selected locations. Fluxes of CH4 into or out of the cover soil were quantified by eddy-covariance and static flux-chamber measurements. In addition. CH4 concentrations at the soil surface were monitored using a field-portable FID detector. Near-surface CH4 fluxes and CH4 loading were estimated from soil-gas concentration profiles in conjunction with radon measurements, and gas push-pull tests (GPPTs) were performed to quantify rates of microbial CH4 oxidation. Eddy-covariance measurements yielded by far the largest and probably most representative estimates of overall CH4 emissions from the test section (daily mean up to similar to 91,500 mu mol m(-2) d(-1)), whereas flux-chamber measurements and CH4 concentration profiles indicated that at the majority of locations the cover soil was a net sink for atmospheric CH4 (uptake up to -380 mu mol m(-2) d(-1)) during the experimental period. Methane concentration profiles also indicated strong variability in CH4 loading over short distances in the cover soil, while potential methanotrophic activity derived from GPPTs was high (v(max) similar to 13 mmol L-1(soil air) h(-1)) at a location with substantial CH4 loading. Our results provide a basis to assess spatial and temporal variability of CH4 dynamics in the complex terrain of a landfill-cover soil