Value Orientation and Forest Management: The Forest Health Debate

Among both forest practitioners and the general public, “forest health” has become an issue of contention. Whereas the debate over which treatments will best achieve healthy forests has been framed largely by the popular media and politicians as a struggle between industry and environmentalists, the views of the general public remain unexplored. Survey results from Oregon and Washington residents were used to assess the relationships between respondents’ self-described environmental or economic priorities and the following two variables: (1) acceptability of forest management practices and (2) perceived threats to forest health. Findings indicate that active management was generally accepted by a majority of respondents regardless of their environmental or economic orientation. Disagreement emerged, however, when the appropriateness of specific management practices within specific forest conditions was examined. Additionally, strong evidence was found for a relationship between self-described environmental or economic orientation and perceived threats to forest health. Those with an environmentally oriented viewpoint tended to perceive human-caused factors as the largest threats, whereas those with an economic orientation saw naturally occurring processes as the greatest threats. These findings suggest that the issue of contention is not active management per se. Rather, the major divisions in the forest health debate are defined by specific contexts and circumstances, as well as the management practices used.     

基于城市面板数据的PM2.5对公共健康的影响

基于Grossman健康生产函数,利用2008~2017年全国280个城市的面板数据,以PM_2.5为空气污染的代表指标,探讨中国空气污染与公共健康之间的动态关系,考虑到公共健康的空间效应,采用空间计量模型进行实证研究.结果表明,在未考虑空间效应的情况下,PM_2.5浓度每增加1%,城市总人口死亡率增加0.040%;考虑空间效应后,PM_2.5浓度每增加1%,城市总人口死亡率增加0.0606%.PM_2.5污染对公共健康具有显著的负面影响,由于存在空间溢出效应,PM_2.5污染对城市公共健康水平的影响程度增加,表明忽视空间相关性的存在,会低估PM_2.5污染对公众健康的影响;而经济发展水平的提高以及产业结构的调整对公共健康有较强的改善作用.     

基于AGA-PP的农村公共安全综合风险评价方法

为了构建一套有效评价农村公共安全风险的指标体系和评价方法,考虑农村环境承载力影响因素对农村公共安全的制约,围绕农村生态承载力、基础设施承载力、社会承载力和人口承载力4个维度,提出能够全面评价农村公共安全风险的指标体系和基于PP（projection pursuit,投影寻踪）模型的风险评价方法.在风险评价方法构建上,采用AGA（accelerated genetic algorithm,加速遗传算法）对PP模型进行改进,实现投影指标函数的快速优化,在此基础上,采用回归分析方法,将时间序列与一维投影值进行拟合,求得一维投影值的预测曲线,通过对一维投影值的预测,利用信息扩散理论将投影值所携带的风险信息扩散至设定的4个风险等级上,用风险熵计算农村环境承载力发展趋势,并借以评价农村公共安全的风险大小.结果表明:基于AGA-PP的评价方法能够最大限度暴露多维指标数据的结构特征.依据最佳投影方向获得的一维投影值与时间序列拟合后,其拟合精度达到0.027 1,较高的拟合精度保证了后续农村环境承载力风险熵值的可信度,这在一定程度上保证了农村公共安全风险评价的可靠性.研究显示,从农村环境承载力的视角评价农村公共安全风险能够很好地反映农村公共安全风险的现实状况和发展趋势.基于AGA-PP的农村公共安全评价方法简单有效,具有评价精度高且与实际吻合度高的特征,能够为公共安全管理部门提供决策依据和方法参考.      

Wildfire Policy and Public Lands: Integrating Scientific Understanding with Social Concerns across Landscapes

Abstract:  Efforts to suppress wildfires have become increasingly problematic in recent years as costs have risen, threats to firefighter safety have escalated, and detrimental impacts to ecosystems have multiplied. Wildfires that escape initial suppression often expand into large, high-intensity summer blazes. Lost is the legacy of smaller fires that likely burned outside extreme weather and fuel conditions and resulted in less severe impacts. Despite the recognized need for modifications to existing policies and practices, resource agencies have been slow to respond. The spread of exotic species, climate change, and increasing human development in wildlands further complicates the issue. New policies are needed that integrate social and ecological needs across administrative boundaries and broad landscapes. These policies should promote a continuum of treatments with active management and reduction of fuel hazard in wildland-urban interface zones and reintroduction of fire in wildlands. Management goals should focus on restoration of the long-term ecological health of the land. Projects that reduce fuel loads but compromise the integrity of soil, water supplies, or watersheds will do more harm than good in the long run. Despite significant ecological concerns, learning to live with fire remains primarily a social issue that will require greater political leadership, agency innovation, public involvement, and community responsibility.     

变电站及其线路建设工程项目公众参与的重要性探讨

变电站及其线路建设因其跨度大,涉及众多的乡镇村或苏木的村民的利益,为使工程建设达到可持续发展的目标,听取不同层次人员的意见,尤其是听取线路经过的乡、镇政府(苏木)中公务员以及拆迁房、迁坟和占耕地村民的意见,是环评工作中极为重要且必不可少的一个环节.以"500 kV高新变--德岭变送电线路工程项目"的公众参与与实践为例,对公众参与过程中所面临的一些普遍问题进行探讨.     

对城市交通规划EIA替代方案的思考

阐述了替代方案的内涵和作用，分析了城市交通规划EIA的重要性，对城市交通规划EIA中替代方案的确定程序与分析比较方法、公众参与替代方案确定和分析过程中的作用等内容进行了探讨。     

An Assessment of People's Satisfaction with the Public Hearing on the Yadana Natural Gas Pipeline Project

Many public and large-scale construction projects inThailand have been faced with environmental and socialconflict problems. The major cause is that project sponsorsdo not address concerns of the public in a proper mannerduring EIA study. The Yadana Natural Gas Pipeline (YNGP)project is an example of a project which suffered theeffects of public demonstration. A public hearing, onetechnique of public participation, is a good mechanism tosolve conflict problems in a non-violent way which the ThaiGovernment usually adopts to settle conflict in constructionprojects. In the case of the YNGP, even after the conflictwas resolved hostility towards the project was noteliminated, as the opponents were not satisfied with thedecision. Therefore, this article examines the hearing on theYNGP project. The study found that it was too late to make any significantchanges to the project after the hearing was held, mostrespondents were not satisfied with the project. In otherwords, this hearing did not improve their perception ofenvironmental soundness of the project. The study showedthat the project's impact on the environment was notproperly addressed. The project sponsors did not providesufficient publicity for the meeting and the stage at whichthe hearing was conducted. Suggestions are made forimproving participation in future hearings.     

An Italian Study on Cryptosporidium and Giardia in Wastewater, Fresh Water and Treated Water

Cryptosporidium oocysts and Giardia cysts has been isolated from waters worldwide. In Italy, studies on these parasites in the environment are still limited due to absence of epidemiological evidence and difficulty of adequate methodologies of sampling and analysis. The new Drinking Water Directive 98/83/CE states that Cryptosporidium has to be determined in water intended for human consumption if Clostridium perfringens is detected. This investigation contributes to the knowledge of both Cryptosporidium and Giardia occurrences in Italian aquatic environments through a two-year monitoring program. In addition, indicator bacteria and Clostridium perfringens were monitored in sewage, surface waters, drinking water, and swimming pools and possible correlations were calculated among all the selected parameters. Cysts and oocysts were detected in sewage and surface water and Giardia numbers always prevailed over Cryptosporidium. The parasites were not detected in drinking water, while a positive sample was obtained from the analysis of swimming pools. Pearsons correlation coefficients evidenced a reciprocal correlation between both the protozoa and the Enterococci counts.     

基于Windows DEA模型的我国自然灾害应急公共投入绩效研究

为提升自然灾害应急公共投入绩效评价的精准性、科学性,运用动态绩效评价Windows DEA模型,结合应急处置结果,对我国近年来自然灾害领域的应急公共投入绩效进行全面系统评价,研究结果表明:我国应急公共投入效率不高且有较大改善空间;应急公共投入效率较高的省（区、市）未能产生辐射效应;我国应急公共投入效率呈现“滞后性”,即当年投入的应急公共投入在当年未得到相应产出。     

基于水库旱限水位动态控制的供水策略研究

为了克服现行水库旱限水位确定方法和功能定位上存在的不足,更好地为水库抗旱调度提供技术支持,通过结合供水系统水文干旱识别方法,用汛末蓄水量、干旱期设计来水量及供水规则计算干旱预警期。并根据实际来水逐月修改来水系列,对当年潜在干旱期和干旱预警期进行再计算,实现旱限水位的动态控制,由此提出了用“预警期/旱限水位”数对的形式(Td,DL)来表示的旱限水位动态控制方法。将旱限水位与限制供水策略相关联,用水库旱限水位作为触发水库限制供水的特征水位。并以水库累计缺水指数最小为目标,以限制供水系数为优化变量,建立水库进入干旱预警后的供水模拟-优化模型。以天津市于桥水库为实例研究,结果表明,旱限水位动态控制方法对水库干旱的预警不仅更加合理,且具有较好的可操作性;旱限水位与限制供水策略相关联,避免了潜在干旱期内水库出现程度更加严重的缺水,对不同蓄水条件下的限制供水系数进行分析,发现限制供水系数最优值一般取在0.5~0.75。