Preliminary report to Texas Farm Bureau on the initial results of the Attitudes and Perceptions on Fire Policy and Burn Bans in Texas

1. Attitudes and Perceptions on Fire
Policy and Burn Bans in Texas
Preliminary Report: Jan. 13, 2009
Texas Farm Bureau
Survey commissioned by Grazing Lands
Conservation Initiative (GLCI)
Survey administered by Texas AgriLife Extension
Service – Institute of Renewable Natural
Resources

2. Goals
Provide snapshot look at how LOCAL
officials understand and perceive issues
Identify if disparity exists between counties
and within counties on attitudes,
implementation, perceptions
Focus areas for improvement
– Policy
– Education
– Outreach

3. Areas of Effort
• Burn Bans and their implementation
– How they are initiated and removed
– Levels of comfort in role
– Decision factors and process
• Government Code
– Level of guidance
– Level of knowledge (self perception)
• Prescribe Fire and its use
• Willingness and desire for outreach, education,
and tools

4. Areas for Analysis
• Differentiate responses by role/position in the
county
• Differentiate responses regionally (spatial and
geographical)
• Interface between policy and ecology
– Management based on policy
– Management based on ecology
• Qualitative measures
– “how do you feel”
– Levels versus absolutes
– No right or wrong answers

5. Survey Design
• Attempt to limit bias in wording
• Some questions asked multiple times, but
asked in differing ways
• Attempt to eliminate questions where
respondents are “lead” to the answers

6. Survey Returns
81 (22%)
218 (59%)
12 (3%)
33 (9%)
12 (3%)
18 (5%)
Responses total: 369 Counties: 127

7. What resources do local officials
use in their decision process?

8. Keetch-Bryam Drought Index Local Prescribed Burn Specialist
1= least
important
County Officials County Attorney
Local Fire Officials State/Federal Officials
5= most
important

9. Ecology and Policy Interface

10. What do Burn Bans Protect?
Human Life 329 (90%)
County Infrastructure 247 (90%)
Homes and Buildings 354 (97%)
Vegetation 238 (90%)
Watershed integrity 176 (48%)
Business, Urban structures 223 (61%)
Agriculture commodities 314 (86%)

11. Burn Ban vs. Prescribed Fire
Similar question to what is protected/benefits from a burn ban. Except this time,
the area of emphasis is prescribed fire

12. Prescribe Fire Benefits
299 (84%)
234 (66%)
201 (56%)
263 (74%)
122 (34%)
213 (60%)

13. Burn Ban vs. Prescribed Fire
Similar question to what is protected/benefits from a burn ban. Except
this time, the area of emphasis is prescribed fire

15. If Prescribe Fire is “Good”, when is
it “Not Good”?

16. When the “Good” goes “Bad”
28 (8%)
224 (63%)
110 (31%)
76 (22%)
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17. Survey Impacts

18. How Can We Help
• Designed to help multiple partners in
determining how their client programs fit
into the survey results
• Designed to be a broad look at common
topics in order to begin asking more
detailed questions
• Designed to invoke action programs (more
geared toward outreach)

19. Example: County Official Tenure
• Survey results
– County commissioners avg. years of service = 7
– County judge avg. years of service = 7
• Agency outcome (hypothetically)
– AgriLife -Establish curriculum that can be administered over a 3
year period at V.G. Young Institute
– TDA – Offer CEU/Certification credits to Commissioner Courts
for attending Burn Ban and Prescribed Fire management
techniques
– FB???? Field day visits on property managed by prescribe fire?
Policy development on encouraging “certification” for county
officials?

20. Spatial Analysis
Suppressing
potential fire
is costly at
the local
level
(Q7a)

21. Guidance to
Agencies/Organizations
What additional resources would be helpful in your decision
process for IMPOSING a burn ban?
Improved fire behavior models
Guidance from agencies
(TFS, NRCS, TDA, TPWD,TCEQ)
Hands on workshops and classes
Online workshops and classes

22. Next Steps
• Analyze results Feb. 2010
• Publications with GLCI
Conferences:
• March 20th – Brief to GLCI board
• April 9 – Presentation at Trans Pecos Fire
Symposium
• April 26 – 29 2nd Human Dimensions of
Wildland Fire Conference