Matthew Wibbenmeyer
Fellow
Matt Wibbenmeyer’s research focuses on the economics of land, forests, and climate change. Much of his work focuses on understanding impacts of the growing wildfire crisis in the western United States, and on how land managers, households, and insurance markets both currently respond to, and could more effectively address, wildfire risk. Alongside his work on wildfire, Wibbenmeyer studies the broader consequences of land management and land use policies on public and private lands, including their effects on land-sector carbon storage and benefits of ecosystem services.
Education
- PhD in economics, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2018
- MS in resource conservation, The University of Montana, 2010
- BA in economics, Williams College, 2007
- BA in biology, Williams College, 2007
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If/Then: To Reduce Wildfire Risk, Agencies Need to Manage Both Fire Prevention and Response
If wildfire management is consolidated under the US Wildland Fire Service, then the federal government will risk undermining integrated fire risk management, creating negative consequences for both fire response and land-management activities.
The Future of Biofuels: Policy Lessons and Research Directions
This report examines biofuels’ role in the energy transition, key debates in life-cycle assessment and indirect land use change modeling, and lessons from existing federal and state biofuel policies.
Indirect Land-Use Change: A Persistent Challenge for Modeling and Policy
This issue brief reviews how economic models estimate indirect land-use change and how policymakers incorporate those estimates in the United States, the European Union, and international aviation.
Landmark Conservation Program Benefits Rural Economies
New studies find that the Conservation Reserve Program has created modest but measurable net benefits for rural communities between 2001 and 2022.
The Future of Biofuels: Policy Lessons and Research Directions
This report examines biofuels’ role in the energy transition, key debates in life-cycle assessment and indirect land use change modeling, and lessons from existing federal and state biofuel policies.
Indirect Land-Use Change: A Persistent Challenge for Modeling and Policy
This issue brief reviews how economic models estimate indirect land-use change and how policymakers incorporate those estimates in the United States, the European Union, and international aviation.
The Impact of the Conservation Reserve Program on Nearby Property Values
This paper examines how land enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program affects nearby home prices and finds that more CRP land raises the value of nearby homes, showing that conservation programs can provide clear local economic benefits in addition to
Conservation and Community: The Local Economic Impacts of the Conservation Reserve Program
This report assesses the Conservation Reserve Program’s impacts on property values, rural business activity, employment, and migration.
If/Then: To Reduce Wildfire Risk, Agencies Need to Manage Both Fire Prevention and Response
If wildfire management is consolidated under the US Wildland Fire Service, then the federal government will risk undermining integrated fire risk management, creating negative consequences for both fire response and land-management activities.
In Focus: Reducing Wildfire Risk and Insurance Prices
This video shares insights about challenges in the homeowners insurance industry in California and policy options to mitigate wildfire risk, with RFF Fellow Matthew Wibbenmeyer.
After the Los Angeles Fires, Reexamining the Wildfire Crisis in the United States
The Los Angeles wildfires were one of the most damaging and expensive extreme weather events in US history—and part of a trend of increasingly frequent and intense fires. What are the causes and consequences of such fires, and what solutions could work?
The Los Angeles Fires, with Yanjun (Penny) Liao, David Wear, and Matthew Wibbenmeyer
Yanjun (Penny) Liao, David Wear, and Matthew Wibbenmeyer discuss the recent wildfires in Los Angeles, California, including the factors that exacerbated the fires, fallout from these fires, and options for mitigating fires in the future.
Landmark Conservation Program Benefits Rural Economies
New studies find that the Conservation Reserve Program has created modest but measurable net benefits for rural communities between 2001 and 2022.
Center Square: “Just One Palisades Brush Clearance Before Fire”
A story about forest management in California cites RFF research on the costs of fuel treatment practices.
“Carbon Pulse: Spark Notes”
A new paper on ways to reduce wildfire exposure in the wildland-urban interface is mentioned in Carbon Pulse‘s daily newsletter.
Mountain West News Bureau: “Job Growth Fastest in the West Where Wildfire Risk is the Highest”
Emily Joiner is quoted in this piece about a new RFF report on the threat wildfire poses to western US businesses.