Fuels Planning: Science Synthesis and

Integration

Social Issues Fact Sheet: 17

Considering Social Acceptability of

Fuels Treatments

United States

Department

of Agriculture

Forest Service

Rocky Mountain

Research Station

Research Note

RMRS-RN-21-17-WWW

September 2006

Social Science Team Lead:

Pamela Jakes

USDA Forest Service

North Central Research Station

1992 Folwell Avenue

St. Paul, MN 55108

pjakes@fs.fed.us

Synthesizing

Scientific

Information

for Fire and Fuels

Project Managers

Pacific Northwest

Research Station

Rocky Mountain

Research Station

Why Assess Social Impacts?

When making decisions about fuels treatments, forest managers need to assess not only

the biological impacts of a treatment, but the social impacts as well. How will local

residents react to certain treatments? Are some treatments more likely to gain local support than others?

While the general public’s reactions to fuels treatments cannot reasonably be the sole basis

for treatment decisions, being able to gauge social impacts can help managers weigh

alternatives, and minimize or be prepared for possible controversy. It can also set the

stage for partnerships between the public and land managers as they seek to protect

public safety, and manage or restore ecosystems.

Social Acceptability

One general measure of social impact is “acceptability.” Social acceptability is based on

value judgments by people—their notions of what is “good” and what is “better.” For

example, managers may be interested in answering the question, “Do stakeholders judge

treatment X to be more socially acceptable than treatment Y for reducing hazardous

fuels?” Or they might want to focus on a management goal rather than a treatment

method, asking, “Is it more socially acceptable to manage for fuels reduction or ecosystem restoration?”

There are a number of ways to collect information from people to assess social acceptability.

Using computers set up at local businesses is one approach. Photo: P. Jakes
With the help of social scientists, forest managers can gather

and analyze information related to social acceptability. The

following six questions are useful for framing initial discussions between you and your social science colleagues when

initiating an assessment of social acceptability.

1) How will we define the fuels treatments we are assessing? Fuels treatments can be defined at a broad, abstract policy level or at a narrow, concrete level. Most

forest managers are interested in the more narrow definitions, which may include details like the site’s location,

how the treatment will be conducted, how many trees

will be removed, and so on.

2) How will we represent the fuels treatments to

people? Verbal descriptions or labels are often used to

describe broadly defined fuels treatments developed at a

policy level. When fuels treatments are more precisely defined, managers may take stakeholders on site visits to

view different treatments firsthand. Or they may show

people photographs or computer-generated images representing specific treatments.

3) Whose opinions are we seeking? Managers may want

to assess acceptability for several constituent groups, including local residents, who may be directly affected by a

given fuels treatment, or distant national constituencies,

who also have a stake in Federal land management.

4) How will we contact people? Verbal surveys, by telephone or mail, have been the most popular means of

contacting people and gathering information at the

broader policy end of the spectrum, when national constituencies are most relevant. When the target is primarily

a local population and the treatment or site in question is

more specific, focus groups or interviews are effective.

5) How will people express their judgments? Often researchers seek people’s judgments by using rating scales

(agree-disagree, unacceptable-acceptable) and other such

measurable responses. With focus groups and interviews,

open-ended responses that are more descriptive are an

effective way to identify people’s concerns.

6) How will data be analyzed and synthesized? Data

collected through the use of verbal surveys can be analyzed using powerful statistical tools. Narratives collected

during focus groups or interviews may provide richer,

specific expressions of concern. But ensuring the reliability

of narratives and generalizing from them is much more

difficult to do. Often, it is also less clear what an appropriate management response would be to the information.

It is important to find the best method for assessing the particular treatment issue at hand. By strategically selecting methods that fit the management context, managers and social scientists should be able to better understand which fuels

treatment policies and actions are more socially acceptable

and why. This information can improve the design and communication of fuels management options—leading to greater

public acceptance and support, and greater success at achieving public safety and ecological protection goals.

Source

Daniel, Terry C.; Valdiserri, Michael; Daniel, Carrie R.; Jakes,

Pamela; Barro, Susan. 2005. Social science to improve fuels

management: a synthesis of research on assessing social acceptability of fuels treatments. Gen. Tech. Rep. NC-259. St.

Paul, MN: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, North

Central Research Station. 52 p. Available online at http://

ncrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/viewpub.asp?key=3476 [2006, August 25].

For a hard copy, contact Pamela Jakes at pjakes@fs.fed.us.

Additional Acceptability Fact Sheets

Considering Social Acceptability of Fuels Treatments is one of two

fact sheets on the topic of acceptability and fuels management. See also Issues Affecting Social Acceptability of Fuels Treatments, Social Issues Fact Sheet 18 (RMRS RN-21-18-WWW).

Social Science Team Fact Sheets

Look for fact sheet topics from the Social Science Team including information on developing personal responsibility for fuels

reduction, communicating fire hazard, topics for community

fire plans, guidelines for community education, collaboration,

and the “golden rule” for communicating fire hazard to people.

Fuels Planning: Synthesis and Integration

This fact sheet is one in a series being produced as part of a

larger project supported by the USDA Forest Service to synthesize new knowledge and information relevant to fire and fuels

management. Fact sheets address topics related to stand structure, environmental impacts, economics, and human responses

to these factors. Information in the fact sheets is targeted for the

dry forests of the Inland West, but is often applicable across

broad regions of the country. For more information, please visit

our Web site at:

www.fs.fed.us/fire/tech_transfer/synthesis/synthesis_index

Fuels Planning: Science Synthesis and Integration is an interagency research/management partnership to support the TenYear Fire Plan, led by Russell T. Graham, RMRS, and Sarah M.

McCaffrey, NCRS.