Understanding Diverse-Stakeholder Preferences for Ecosystem Services in Southern California Montane Forests: Informing Forest Management Practices via Inclusion

Abstract

Understanding forest management preferences from a diverse set of stakeholders is critical for public land managers, particularly in landscapes undergoing disturbances such as fire, invasives, climate change, urbanization and increasing visitor use. The aim of this research is to inform forest management by co-developing an "intuitive" survey instrument suited for a diverse set of stakeholders, including marginalized communities, frequent participants, environmental groups. This survey elicited preferences for specific ecosystem services and non-ecosystem services through a selection of management practices around the San Bernardino National Forest. This thesis implemented a best-worst scale survey method to better understand their preferences and opinions (Dawes et al., 2018). Forest management practices related to ecosystem services were ranked in importance by respondents, and their willingness to pay for these practices was estimated. Mechanical thinning (cutting down/removing unwanted trees with mechanical equipment) resulted as the most important attribute, while paying an additional price of $3 ranked as worst. Public grills resulted in the highest willingness to pay (WTP) but without statistical significance. The frequent respondents showed no statistical difference from the local residents.