Assessing Public Timber Harvest Impacts In A Mixed Public/Private Stumpage Market

Abstract

A conceptual model for assessing public/private timber supply interactions in small regions is presented. A hypothetical mixed-ownership situation was developed to demonstrate how the cumulative impact of public timber harvests on private sources of supply could be assessed. Simulation results illustrate the ability of the model to portray key features of the mixed forest ownership situation. The simulations further suggest the need to consider the age-class structure of adjacent private forests when assessing the consequences of public forest allowable sale quantities, and bring into question the ability of public forest managers to ensure stability in local wood processing industries.

Résumé

Un modèle conceptuel pour évaluer les interactions de l’offre de bois sur pied publique et privée dans de petites régions est présenté. Une situation fictive de propriété mixte est développée pour montrer comment pourrait être évalué l’impact cumulé des coupes publiques sur l’offre privée. Les résultats des simulations démontrent la capacité du modèle à représenter les caractéristiques clés de la situation de propriété mixte. Les simulations mettent aussi en évidence la nécessité de considérer la structure des classes d’âge de forêts privées adjacentes quand on évalue les conséquences de la vente des quantités autorisées de bois public. Elles remettent en question la capacité des gestionnaires de forêts publiques à assurer la stabilité des industries locales du bois.

Key words::

• economic impacts
• timber sales
• forest planning
• stumpage markets

Mots-clés::

• impacts économiques
• ventes de bois
• gestion forestière
• marché des bois sur pied

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jay Sullivan

Jay Sullivan is Associate Professor of Forest Economics and Management in the Department of Forestry at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. His primary interests are in the economic impacts of forestry activities on local communities and the application of mathematical programming techniques to multi-resource forest management problems.

J. Keith Gilless

Keith Gilless is Associate Professor of Forest Economics and Management in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management at the University of California, Berkeley. His primary interests are analysis of forest products markets, fire protection planning, and regional economics.