Theses and Dissertations

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

Sun, Changyou

Committee Member

Liddell Pearson

Committee Member

Fan, Zhaofei

Date of Degree

8-7-2010

Document Type

Graduate Thesis - Open Access

Major

Forestrry

Degree Name

Master of Science (M.S.)

College

College of Forest Resources

Department

Department of Forestry

Abstract

Wildfires in the United States present a complexity of problems for private landowners and policy makers. This thesis takes a look at two key issues faced by private and government stakeholders; the first being a lack of knowledge regarding current prescribed fire laws and regulations. A legal review of administrative laws and regulations for prescribed burning in the Southeastern United States in the context of management-based regulation is used to address this issue. It was found that regulation for prescribed burning has shifted to a more management–based regime. The second is an empirical study of wildfire distribution in the state of Mississippi. Wildfires appear to fit a Pareto distribution throughout the state given a certain threshold. When analyzed in conjunction both studies could aid lawmakers in projecting the effects of a given policy change on actual wildfire occurrences and distribution.

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11668/15273

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