Forest Resource Economics

It is increasingly recognized that the economic value of forests is not merely the production of timber. Forests provide other key ecosystem services, such as being sinks for greenhouse gases, hotspots of biodiversity, tourism and recreation. They are also vitally important in preventing soil erosion and controlling water supplies, as well as providing non-timber forest products and supporting the livelihoods of many local people. This handbook provides a detailed, comprehensive and broad coverage of forest economics, including traditional forest economics of timber production, economics of environmental role of forests, and recent developments in forest economics. The chapters are grouped into six parts: fundamental topics in forest resource economics; economics of forest ecosystems; economics of forests, climate change, and bioenergy; economics of risk, uncertainty, and natural disturbances; economics of forest property rights and certification; and emerging issues and developments. Written by leading environmental, forest, and natural resource economists, the book represents a definitive reference volume for students of economics, environment, forestry and natural resource economics and management.

It is increasingly recognized that the economic value of forests is not merely the production of timber. Forests provide other key ecosystem services, such as being sinks for greenhouse gases, hotspots of biodiversity, tourism and recreation. They are also vitally important in preventing soil erosion and controlling water supplies, as well as providing non-timber forest products and supporting the livelihoods of many local people. This handbook provides a detailed, comprehensive and broad coverage of forest economics, including traditional forest economics of timber production, economics of environmental role of forests, and recent developments in forest economics. The chapters are grouped into six parts: fundamental topics in forest resource economics; economics of forest ecosystems; economics of forests, climate change, and bioenergy; economics of risk, uncertainty, and natural disturbances; economics of forest property rights and certification; and emerging issues and developments. Written by leading environmental, forest, and natural resource economists, the book represents a definitive reference volume for students of economics, environment, forestry and natural resource economics and management.

Forest Resource Economics and Finance is intended for undergraduate forestry students, but practicing foresters and policy analysts will also find it a useful reference. The text emphasizes economics as a way of thinking in which we compare added costs and benefits of actions in order to maximize net benefits. With the basics of capital theory, readers learn how to evaluate forestry investments in a way that embraces important environmental factors. Another key feature is a focus on analyzing current conflicts and tradeoffs that will continue to be prominent forestry issues in the 21st century: free market policies versus different levels of government intervention, economic development versus environmental conservation, private property rights versus public amenity rights, and timber versus non-timber outputs. This text also addresses additional topics not often found in other forest economic books including: economics of non-clearcutting management systems, economics of forest damage, risk analysis, inflation, environmental economics, capital budgeting, and regional economics. Add to this a micro-economics review, multiple-use and non-market good analysis, optimal capital management, benefit/cost analysis, timber supply and demand issues, appraisal and valuation, forest industry economics, and world forestry issues, and you have the most comprehensive forest economics text on the market. In addition to new and updated figures throughout the text, this newly-revised second edition provides an overview of important trends in the modern timber industry including advancements in engineered wood, international trade, global environmental issues, as well as community forestry and agroforestry.

Forestry cannot be isolated from the forces that drive all economic activity. It involves using land, labour, and capital to produce goods and services from forests, while economics helps in understanding how this can be done in ways that will best meet the needs of people. Therefore, a firm grounding in economics is integral to sound forestry policies and practices. This book, a major revision and expansion of Peter H. Pearse’s 1990 classic, provides this grounding. Updated and enhanced with advanced empirical presentation of materials, it covers the basic economic principles and concepts and their application to modern forest management and policy issues. Forest Economics draws on the strengths of two of the field’s leading practitioners who have more than fifty years of combined experience in teaching forest economics in the United States and Canada. Its comprehensive and systematic analysis of forest issues makes it an indispensable resource for students and practitioners of forest management, natural resource conservation, and environmental studies.

A comprehensive and technical survey of forest resource economics, concentrating on developments in the last twenty years regarding policy instrument choice and uncertainty. The field of forest economics has expanded rapidly in the last two decades, and yet there exists no up-to-date textbook for advanced undergraduate-graduate level use or rigorous reference work for professionals. Economics of Forest Resources fills these gaps, offering a comprehensive technical survey of the field with special attention to recent developments regarding policy instrument choice and uncertainty. It covers all areas in which mathematical models have been used to explain forest owner and user incentives and government behavior, introducing the reader to the rigor needed to think through the consequences of policy instruments. Technically difficult concepts are presented with a unified and progressive approach; an appendix outlines the basic concepts from calculus needed to understand the models and results developed. The book first presents the historical and classic models that every student or researcher in forest economics must know, including Faustman and Hartman approaches, public goods, spatial interdependence, two period life-cycle models, and overlapping generations problems. It then discusses topics including policy instrument choice, deforestation, biodiversity conservation, and age-class based forest modeling. Finally, it surveys such advanced topics as uncertainty in two period models, catastrophic risk, stochastic control problems, deterministic optimal control, and stochastic and deterministic dynamic programming approaches. Boxes with empirical content illustrating applications of the theoretical material appear throughout. Each chapter is self-contained, allowing the reader, student, or instructor to use the text according to individual needs.

"How are forest resources created and used? How do they contribute to our happiness? What are some of the issues in forest resource stewardship? How should these issues be addressed? What principles should be followed? What is the future of forestry? How can - and do - we affect its future?" "Such is the subject of Introduction To Forest Resource Economics." "From the "Father of Forestry Economics," this new book delivers far more than just the economics of forests. This impressive work provides readers with a realistic view of forestry economics, based on the author's experience of over 40 years in forestry. It covers a wide range of topics - carefully subdivided to enable readers to easily focus on one or more narrow topics of special interest." "Approaching forestry economics from a social science perspective and considering the human factors involved, the book includes consumers and consumers attitudes. Special emphasis is placed on the critically important areas of world forestry, nontimber forestry, and consumer economics, and an important theme of the book involves nations' interdependencies: geographic, cultural, and political."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Forestry Economics introduces students and practitioners to all aspects of the management and economics of forestry. The book adopts the approach of managerial economics textbooks and applies this to the unique processes and problems faced by managers of forests. While most forestry economics books are written by economists for future economists, what many future forest and natural resource managers need is to understand what economic information is and how to use it to make better business and management decisions. John E. Wagner draws on his twenty years of experience teaching and working in the field of forest resource economics to present students with an accessible understanding of the unique production processes and problems faced by forest and other natural resource managers. There are three unique features of this book: The first is its organization. The material is organized around two common economic models used in forest and natural resources management decision making. The second is the use of case studies from various disciplines: Outdoor and Commercial Recreation, Wood Products Engineering, Forest Products, and Forestry. The purpose of these case studies is to provide students with applications of the concepts being discussed within the text. The third is revisiting the question of how to use economic information to make better business decisions at the end of each chapter. This ties each chapter to the preceding ones and reinforces the hypothesis that a solid working knowledge of these economic models and the information they contain are necessary for making better business decisions. This textbook is an invaluable source of clear and accessible information on forestry economics and management for not only economics students, but for students of other disciplines and those already working in forestry and natural resources.