Characteristics of Moose-vehicle Collisions in Anchorage, Alaska, 1991–1995

Moose have successfully adapted to Anchorage's urban environment, using greenbelt areas for shelter, forage, and protection from nearby predator populations. However, the proximity of moose to people poses unique hazards: a motor vehicle colliding a moose may cause significant injury and vehicle damage. The annual Moose Vehicle Collision (MVC) rate increased during the study period from 40 to 52 MVCs per 100,000 registered vehicles in Anchorage, a significant (X² = 7.8, p < 0.01) increase of 23%. Of 519 reported MVCs, 23% resulted in injury to 158 people, with no human fatalities. Collisions were 2.6 times more likely to have occurred in the dark (n = 375, [72%]) than during daylight hours. An MVC on a dry road was twice (95% CI: 1.29, 3.08) as likely to have resulted in an injury as an incident on a slick road. MVCs may be prevented by: reducing speed limits around greenbelt areas, brighter vehicle headlights, placement of street lights in known moose areas, underpasses for wildlife at known crossings, and snow removal to reduce berm height in areas of high moose concentrations. Published by National Safety Council and Elsevier Science Ltd     

Delineating protected wildlife corridors with multi‐objective programming

Protected wildlife corridors can help counteract habitat fragmentation and link isolated reserve “islands” into connected reserve systems. The need for wildlife corridors will grow as expanding human populations place increasing pressure on remaining undeveloped land. A two‐objective zero–one programming model is formulated for the problem of selecting land for a system of wildlife corridors that must connect a known set of existing reserves or critical habitat areas. This problem is modeled as a network Steiner tree problem, under the objectives of minimizing corridor land costs and minimizing the amount of unsuitable land within the corridor system. Linear programming is used to find exact solutions with little or no branching and bounding, and the multi‐objective weighting method is used to generate non‐inferior alternatives. Two hypothetical examples demonstrate the model and solution procedure. Results can help inform planning and decision making for protected area land acquisition and habitat restoration.     

USE OF A HYDROLOGIC MODEL IN A BASIN-WIDE WATER ALLOCATION PROCEEDING1

ABSTRACT: The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation developed a hydrologic model to help analyze the effects of allocating water for consumptive and instream uses in the upper Missouri River basin of Montana. The model, a PC-based FORTRAN program, uses a mass-balance approach to compute monthly streamflows, reservoir operations, hydropower production, and irrigation and municipal water uses throughout the 54,000 square mile basin for a 59-year base period. Simulation results are presented as monthly mean and percentile-exceedence values. The model was run for baseline conditions and six hypothetical water-allocation alternatives. Results were used by staff resource area specialists to assess potential impacts to water quantity and distribution, water rights, water quality, stream channel form, fisheries, wildlife, recreation, hydropower production, and economics. These analyses were presented to the public and the decision-making board in an environmental impact statement (EIS). Though, in many instances, the model did not allow for detailed, site-specific analyses, the model was an important tool and its simulation results formed the hydrologic basis for the EIS.     

Bystander injury evaluation of children from midwestern agricultural operations

Background

With more than a million youth living on agricultural operations, it is important for parents to understand the consequences of bystander injuries that children experience in these environments. We identified the childhood injuries for bystander status and compared the severity of these injuries to the working children in the Regional Rural Injury Study-II (RRIS-II).

Methods

RRIS-II followed 16,546 children (∼ 85% of eligible) from rural communities in the Midwest for two six-month recall periods in 1999 and 2001. Demographic, injury, and exposure data were collected through comprehensive computer-assisted telephone interviews. Child injuries were cataloged using narrative scenarios into four categories: (a) directly work-related; (b) indirectly work-related; (c) non-working accomplice; and (d) non-working attendant; the latter three all being bystander categories. Poisson regression modeling was used to calculate rates of bystander injuries. Frequencies were used for comparison of severity measures.

Results

Among the 463 child injuries (aged < 20 yrs), 102 were bystander injuries. Of the bystander-related injuries, 14 were identified as indirectly work-related (working bystanders), 27 as non-working accomplice (passengers/tag-alongs), and 60 as non-working attendant (playing on the operation). The overall rate of bystander injuries was 6.4 per 1,000 people, 95% CI (5.0, 8.1). Males, compared with females, had more than twice the injury rate (8.7; 95% CI 6.4-11.8, and 3.9; 95% CI 2.7-5.7, per 1,000 people, respectively). Bystanders in this population had more severe injuries with 4% having life-threatening circumstances; of these, 4% of the accomplices and 2% of the attendants subsequently died.

Conclusions

Children who live or work on agricultural operations are vulnerable to many hazards. Therefore, this study examined child injuries and found a clear difference in the consequences of these injuries between working-related and bystanding-related injuries.

Impact on Industry

Unlike occupations such as construction and mining, where laws and organizations have been created for the protection of bystanders, agricultural bystanders have remained unprotected and have had to face the consequent injury and death outcomes. As public health professionals considering these risks, it is necessary that we work to develop more intervention studies and continue to propose suggestive guidelines for child safety in these environments so as to challenge family traditions and possibly spark public policies that will give further protection to this population.     

Graduated Driver Licensing Research, 2007-Present: A Review and Commentary

The evolution of graduated licensing systems in the past 25 years has resulted in dramatic growth in research on this topic. The most recent summary reports have covered the period up to 2007. In the present article more recent and ongoing research is categorized, summarized, and discussed.     

Patterns of substance use among Hurricane Katrina evacuees in Houston,Texas

This paper focuses on changing patterns of substance use among low income, African American drug users evacuated from New Orleans, Louisiana, during Hurricane Katrina of August 2005. It examines the relationship between increases and decreases in alcohol and tobacco (AT) use and illicit drug (ID) use after Katrina and pre‐disaster and within‐disaster factors. Data from structured interviews with 200 Katrina evacuees currently living in Houston were collected 8–14 months after the disaster. Multivariate analysis revealed that rises in AT use were positively associated with education. Females and younger evacuees were more likely to have increased AT use. ID use increase was positively associated with resource loss and leaving the city before Katrina. Decreases in AT and ID use were found to be associated with disaster‐related exposure. The paper discusses the specific consequences of disasters on disadvantaged minority substance users and the importance of developing public health disaster policies that target this population.     

An Event-Based Approach for Examining the Effects of Wildland Fire Decisions on Communities

Public concern over the consequences of forest fire to wildland interface communities has led to increased resources devoted to fire suppression, fuel treatment, and management of fire events. The social consequences of the decisions involved in these and other fire-related actions are largely unknown, except in an anecdotal sense, but do occur at a variety of temporal and social organizational scales. These consequences are not limited to the fire event itself. Preparation for the possibility of a fire, actions that suppression agencies take during a fire, and postfire decisions all have consequences, if unknown currently. This article presents an "event-based" approach that can be useful for constructing and systematic discussion about the consequences of wildland fire to human communities. For each of the three major periods within this approach, agencies, communities, and individuals make decisions and take actions that have consequences. The article presents an integrated, temporally based process for examining these consequences, which is similar to others developed in the natural hazards and disaster management literature.     

EVALUATION OF COASTAL PLAIN CONSERVATION BUFFERS USING THE RIPARIAN ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT MODEL1

ABSTRACT: Riparian buffers are increasingly important as watershed management tools and are cost‐shared by programs such as Conservation Reserve that are part of the USDA Conservation Buffer Initiative. Riparian buffers as narrow as 4.6m (15ft) are eligible for cost‐share by USDA. The Riparian Ecosystem Management Model (REMM) provides a tool to judge water quality improvement by buffers and to set design criteria for nutrient and sediment load reduction. REMM was used for a Coastal Plain site to simulate 14 different buffers ranging from 4.6 m to 51.8 m (15 to 170 ft) with three different types of vegetation (hardwood trees, pine trees, and perennial grass) with two water and nutrient loads. The load cases were low sediment/low nutrient‐typical of a well managed agricultural field and low sediment/high nutrient‐typical of liquid manure application to perennial forage crops. Simulations showed that the minimum width buffer (4.6 m) was inadequate for control of nutrients under either load case. The minimum width buffer that is eligible for cost share assistance on a field with known water quality problems (10.7 m, 35 ft) was projected to achieve at least 50 percent reduction of N, P, and sediment in the load cases simulated.