The Timber Harvesting Behavior of Family Forest Owners : Theoretical and Empirical Individual-choice Models for the Southeastern United States

ISBN-13: 9783639152784 / Angielski / Miękka / 2009 / 156 str.

Brett Butler

Opis

To increase our understanding of the timber harvesting behavior of family forest owners, theoretical and empirical individual-choice models were developed for the southeastern United States. Owners were modeled as utility-maximizers who made harvesting decisions by balancing amenity and profit values. Harvesting was modeled as a function of biophysical and socioeconomic variables. Data from forest inventories and forest owner surveys conducted by the U.S. Forest Service were used in logistic regression harvesting models. Separate models were generated for all family forest owners and profit, multiple-objective, and amenity groups. Harvesting propensities were highest for the profit group and lowest for the amenity group. Stand structure variables, such as basal area and volume, were the most significant predictors of timber harvesting. Other significant variables were stumpage values, ownership objectives, and absenteeism. The results of the models were aggregated and implications for the region s timber supply assessed. Continued shifts away from strong timber objectives will decrease the flow of timber from family forest lands.

O autorze

The author is a research forester with the U.S. Forest Service,
Northern Research Station, Forest Inventory and Analysis
program. He coordinates the U.S. Forest Service s National
Woodland Owner Survey and co-leads the Family Forest Research
Center based out of Amherst, MA. He received his doctorate from
Oregon State University in 2005.