Socio-Economics and Technology Transfer: Summary

1. Socio-Economics and Technology Transfer:Summary SRS-4158 TAV Synthesis September 11, 2012 - Atlanta

2. Socio-economics • The societal and economic aspects of managing and restoring longleaf pine ecosystems • Technology transfer • Dispersing information to a wide range of clients Topics Defined

3. Fire and smoke • Educate the public about LLP advantages • Emphasize differences between wildfire and prescribed fire • Selling the message • Create defined strategies for landowners to address societal issues. Products that: • Promote forest management and sustainability • Aid visual acceptance of management activities • Validate the use of herbicides • Address landowner issues with ETS • Nullify LLP myths • Promote the value of risk reduction: arson, poor sites, insects • Involve the skeptics – citizen monitoring of active management sites Social Issues: what to address

4. Cost/benefit analyses of: • Groundlayer restoration – will it be shaded out? • Site preparation choices • Fire vs fire surrogates (herbicides) • Restoring a diverse system • Multiple revenue streams • Wildlife, pine straw, tourism, carbon market • Proper planting procedures and use of container stock • Stand conversion vsclearcutting Economic Issues Addressing small and large landowner needs

5. Developing markets and new outlets • LLP economics and products compared to loblolly • Markets for • High-value niche products –flooring, paneling • Green building products, points for local production • Secondary products – wildlife, water, etc. • Invasives on LLP sites – like sand pine • Separate grade instead of “southern pine” • Reward for wood quality • The landowner’s perspective • Incentives • Taxes • Trust fund issues • REITs, TIMOs Economic Issues cont.

6. Publications • Ranged from refereed journals to pamphlets • A strong call for synthesis papers • Joining the 21st century • Websites with links to publications • Links to Wikipedia and Google • Facebook, Twitter, mobile apps, blogs • Alerts when new articles are posted • Make old keystone publications electronically available • Link referenced research/study sites to geographical locations so relevant info can be easily accessed Technology Transfer

7. Close the loop between research and partners • Workshops, tours, seminars, field days, meeting presentations • Meet with landowners, organizations at public meetings • Team with university extension, CFEOR, etc. on outreach efforts • Tailor outreach to specific demographics • Demo sites • Catalog existing federal and state sites • Tie them in to Garmin GPS • Mark with informative signs • Use visually different approaches • Thermal images of wildfires when they reach a managed stand • YouTube 360º views of managed stands Technology Transfer cont.

8. Management tools • Decision Support System (expert system) • Habitat Assessment tool for RCW • Information network to meet diverse objectives of private landowners • Region-wide database network • Make RLGS model user-friendly Technology Transfer cont.

9. Unit does too much basic research – leave that to the universities • No incentives for scientists to perform practical research and tech transfer • All RWU research must link to NFS or cooperator work • DoD can’t access our website and research on bases doesn’t make it back to field people • Need an interpreter for the public – a scientist and/or tech transfer specialist • Hard to search our websites for publications General comments/problems

10. Economics comes down to what people value: if they understand the benefits, they can assign a value • Research is less appreciated if you can’t relate it to the public in an understandable manner • We are not advocates: rather, we factually inform the public Pearls of Wisdom