Perspectives on Prescribed Fire in the South: Does Ethnicity Matter

Using a household survey and regression methods, we assessed preferences for prescribed fire in the southern United States. We found that the majority of the respondents favored the use of prescribed fire. However, we observed pronounced racial variation in opinions on prescribed fire and its side effects. African Americans and Hispanics were less supportive and were more concerned about the side effects of prescribed fire than whites. We also observed that females tended to be more concerned about the side effects of prescribed fire than males. In addition, education had no effect on preference for prescribed fire in general, but education was found to be negatively associated with concern levels in all three models pertaining to concerns over the side effects of prescribed fire. Concern over the side effects diminished as education increased.