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Wildfire Prevention Efficacy: Marginal and Non-marginal Benefit-Cost Ratios
Published
Author(s)
Jeffrey P. Prestemon, David Butry, Karen L. Abt, Rhonda Sutphen
Abstract
Fire prevention education efforts involve a variety of methods intended to reduce the number of accidentally ignited wildfires, including public service announcements, distributing brochures and making presentations. A Poisson model of Florida fire ignitions by fire management region in Florida, 2002-2007, controlling for potential simultaneity biases, indicates that fire prevention efforts have statistically significant and negative effects on preventable fire types. Evaluating the expected reductions in wildfire damages given a change in fire prevention effort by region and statewide shows that marginal benefits exceed marginal costs by an average of 35-fold. These range from 10 to 99, depending on the region and on assumptions about how prevention spending is allocated across space.
Citation
Forest Science
Volume
56
Issue
2
Pub Type
Journals
Keywords
debris, escape, campfire, damage, control function, education
Prestemon, J.
, Butry, D.
, Abt, K.
and Sutphen, R.
(2010),
Wildfire Prevention Efficacy: Marginal and Non-marginal Benefit-Cost Ratios, Forest Science
(Accessed October 13, 2025)