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Fire Risk in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. Presented By: Matthew Roose James Cordon. Introduction. Gunflint Corridor is located in the BWCA Located in Northern Minnesota Encompasses 47,669 acres 29,595 National Forest System lands
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Fire Risk in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Presented By: Matthew Roose James Cordon
Introduction • Gunflint Corridor is located in the BWCA • Located in Northern Minnesota • Encompasses 47,669 acres • 29,595 National Forest System lands • private lands include: 4 youth camps, 22 resorts, 9 campgrounds, 22 boat landings • July 4th Storm caused major blowdown of trees • heavy rains, straight line rains exceeding 90 mph • caused damage to 32,579 acres of land • created fuel pathway of 80-120 ton/acre
Map of Affected Geographic Region • % represents • total area • damaged • Green: 10-33% • Yellow: 34-66% • Pink: 67-100%
Use and Non-Use Values • Recreation • hunting, fishing, camping, sailing, canoeing, • kayaking, hiking, X-country skiing, snow-shoeing • Natural Ecosystem • bears, wolves, raccoons, eagles, owls, northern pike, walleye, bass • clean air, clean water, natural aesthetic views
Market Failures • Negative Externalities • land issues: affected area has many different owners (federal, state, private) • a fire started on private land would easily travel to government lands, the reverse is also true • private parties do not feel responsible for government lands • boundaries are not well defined
Market Failures, cont. • Public Goods • private parties can access good without cost • private individuals do not understand that their land effects others • proper amount of cleanup is not accomplished • private parties can experience non-use values at no cost • free-riding is present
Policy Options • Must address the issues raised in market failures • Private Lands: • provide government subsidy to private land owners to abate cleanup costs • police private lands to ensure proper amount of cleanup occurs • machine crushing • prescribed burning • machine pile and burn • chip material and haul
Policy Options, cont. • Public Lands: • government should contract timber companies • they would remove the downed trees for sale in market place • they will continue removing trees until it is no longer profitable or possible • government will then finance the rest of cleanup until the efficient amount is reached • Total cleanup unnecessary • natural fires occur as part of ecosystem • total cleanup is too expensive and not efficient