bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Performance-Based Interagency Fire Program Analysis System: Blueprint for Fire Planning
Authors: Rideout D.B. , Botti S.J.
Published: April 2024

A new fire management paradigm reflects broadening goals, increased responsibilities, the need for interagency systems, and heightened performance accountability. Current program analysis models developed in a previous era can no longer support the expanded responsibilities and expectations for this new paradigm. We outline and discuss principles and major components of a new strategy-level, interagency program analysis system. The principles and system components are presented, not as a solution, but as a point of departure in stimulating professional dialogue toward a new system for fire management and planning.
Southern Forest Resource Assessment highlights: Changing Demographics, Values, and Attitudes
Authors: Cordell H.K. , Tarrant M.A.
Published: April 2024

The South's forests are both important to and at the same time in the path of the region's growth. Research on social change for the Southern Forest Resource Assessment shows that rapid population growth and changing demographics are fueling growth of recreation demands and adding stresses on public and private forests. Concurrent with population and demand growth have been significant value and attitudinal changes among both land-owning and non-owning residents of the region. Southerners are clearly becoming greener. An opportunity to mitigate stresses on southern forests may lie in tapping Southerners' growing environmentalism to form effective cooperatives involving public and private interests and forestry professionals.
Southern Forest Resource Assessment highlights: Terrestrial Ecosystems and Wildlife Conservation
Authors: Trani M.K.
Published: April 2024

Southern population and economic growth are putting pressure on wildlife species and the communities that support them. Loss of habitat is the primary reason why 132 southern terrestrial vertebrate species are of conservation concern, but other factors include environmental contaminants, exploitation, development, stream modification, and wetland degradation. A high proportion of rare forest communities are imperiled to some degree; 14 have estimated losses of 98 percent since European settlement. In the midst of continued regional growth, biological diversity will become a critical conservation issue. Each southern landowner has an important role in the conservation of species and their habitats.
Focus on ... Professional Development: The Value of Networking
Authors: Webb C.D. , Staebler R.
Published: April 2024

The benefits of a strong professional (and personal) network are clear. But how do we go about building such a network?
Commentary: Let SAF Take You Higher
Authors: Kutack J.N.
Published: April 2024

Early in your career, money for SAF membership dues is hard to come by. But you should consider it an investment in the future.
The Decline of Southern Yellow Pine Timberland
Authors: South D.B. , Buckner E.R.
Published: April 2024

The South has lost 16 million acres of southern yellow pine timberland since 1953. Factors contributing to the decline include suppression of wildfires, reduced prescribed burning, southern pine beetles, urban development, high-grading, and a lack of artificial regeneration on privately owned timberlands. Tree-planting programs on agricultural lands have helped slow the decline, and according to the Southern Forest Resource Assessment, an increase in southern yellow pine timberland could occur if 23 million acres of former cropland and pastureland were planted to pines during the next four decades. Such an effort would likely require subsidies.
Focus on ... Business of Forestry: Taking the Mystery Out of Financial Ratios
Authors: Milauskas S. , DeGeorge F.A.
Published: April 2024

Businesses in the forest products sector face increasingly difficult challenges today. So it is important to understand key financial ratios, how they were calculated, and what they mean.
Focus on ... Community Involvement: Local Land-Use Planning: How to Make a Difference
Authors: Jenkins D.H. , Goerlich D.L.
Published: April 2024

Because the world is run by those who show up, professional foresters should get involved in planning at the local level.
Focus on ... Wildfire: Coming Soon: A National Assessment of Fuel Loadings
Authors: Woodall C.W.
Published: April 2024

Data from two comprehensive FIA inventories will make possible the first national assessment of fuel loadings.
Book Review: Managing a Global Resource: Challenges of Forest Conservation and Development
Authors: Gregersen H.M.
Published: April 2024

Managing a Global Resource: Challenges of Forest Conservation and Development, edited by Uma J. Lele, provides a major review of the World Bank's performance in forestry lending.
Perspective: Foresters: The Next Generation
Authors: Heitzman E.
Published: April 2024

The foresters of tomorrow are passionate, energetic, and computer-literate, but they have poor communication skills.
Focus on ... Wildfire: Fire Hazard and Potential Treatment Effectiveness: A Statewide Assessment in Montana
Authors: Fiedler C.E. , Keegan C.E. , Morgan T.A. , Woodall C.W.
Published: April 2024

A uniform forest inventory was recently completed across all ownerships in Montana.
Productivity of Southern Pine Plantations: Where Are We and How Did We Get Here?
Authors: Stanturf J.A. , Kellison R.C. , Broerman F.S. , Jones S.B.
Published: April 2024

The productivity and extensiveness of southern forests in general, and pine plantations in particular, has placed the South at the forefront of production forestry in the United States. That industrial loblolly pine plantations are very productive is a result of researchers and managers developing and applying increasingly intensive silvicultural practices. Our estimates of the percentage of productivity gains attributable to improvements made in individual management practices are based on our collective experience, anecdotal information, and discussions with knowledgeable colleagues. Such informed judgments are based on potential productivity revealed by designed experiments coupled with estimates of how well technology has been implemented.
Property Taxation of Private Forests in the United States: A National Review
Authors: Hibbard C.M. , Kilgore M.A. , Ellefson P.V.
Published: April 2024

Property taxation incentives are an important tool for influencing the management of the nation's private forests. In 2000, 50 states administered 66 programs that provided preferential tax treatment to forest landowners. These programs vary considerably in type, tax relief, and administration. A survey of state administrators of private forestry programs reveals that forest tax programs are only modestly conforming to standards commonly used to judge tax policy, and only modestly accomplishing the objectives for which they were created. Effective forest property tax programs should be easily understood, provide efficient incentives for sound forest practices, and complement the state's existing forestry programs.
Commentary: Discourse or Distrust?
Authors: Mortimer M.J.
Published: April 2024

Although there is much to gain by selectively building relationships with particular environmental groups, there is equal peril for the uninitiated in futile courtships.
Sustainable Forestry: What Is It? How Do We Achieve It?
Authors: Oliver C.D.
Published: April 2024

As defined here, sustainable forestry ensures each ecosystem provides its fair share of values, neither overly depriving itself or other times and places of the ability to provide values. This “working” definition builds on other efforts to examine sustainability and uses the Montreal Process criteria as values to be sustained. It is first important to ensure that each “potential forest ecosystem” contains enough “intact forests” to provide the values, followed by ensuring each forest provides the values through a combination of reserves and active management. Economic development, less-consumptive lifestyles, a better rural infrastructure, more wood product use, and other factors can be helpful at the proper times and places.
Strengthening the Science behind Certification: The Role of University Research and School Forests
Authors: Price W. , Kavanaugh S.
Published: April 2024

The Pinchot Institute for Conservation conducted a study to gauge the potential for refining certification assessment methodologies through research in school forests involving faculty, staff, and students. The study was based on a series of interviews with certification experts and a survey completed by 38 schools with research and teaching forests. It evaluated the potential for better use of untapped capacity at research universities by addressing needed improvements in certification programs, current level of participation by school forests, and capacity for and interest in certification. Facilitating the dialogue and coordination between the certification programs and the students, faculty, and staff who conduct research in school forests can refine the assessment methodologies used for certification.
Grading Transfer versus Continuing Students in Undergraduate Forestry: Who Will Excel?
Authors: Laband D.N. , Hanby R.K.
Published: April 2024

Educators have long discussed whether students who transfer into undergraduate forestry programs perform as well as students who enter these programs as freshmen. Looking at six years' worth of bachelor of science graduates at Auburn University's forestry program, we find that standardized test scores and transfer grade point average are significant predictors of these students' subsequent academic performance in the required forestry curriculum, but that high school grades are not. Recruitment efforts should consider applicants' ACT or SAT scores, and if the tests are not required for applicants from community colleges, these potential transfer students should be evaluated on the basis of their transfer grade point average. The study sample is restricted, however, because not all data are comparable. This article frames the issue and points to the need for additional research.
Using History to Plan the Future of Old-Growth Ponderosa Pine
Authors: Sesnie S. , Bailey J.
Published: April 2024

Historical forest records, combined with the Forest Vegetation Simulator and a geographic information system for a land planning area on the Kaibab National Forest in northern Arizona, can suggest management approaches to restoring old-growth forest structures. Our analysis indicated that although more than 50 percent of ponderosa pine stands in the planning area are at or near an old-growth stage, they are at historically high tree densities. Stand-replacing wildfires have recently burned some old-growth stands. Silvicultural methods to restore desired old-growth structure and reduce fire danger can be evaluated with easy-to-use forest simulation models and validated with available historical and ground truth data.
Book Review: Land-Grant Universities and Extension into the 21st Century: Renegotiating or Abandoning a Social Contract
Authors: Jones S.B. , Clark J.W.
Published: April 2024

Land-Grant Universities and Extension into the 21st Century: Renegotiating or Abandoning a Social Contract, by George R. McDowell, stimulates some very necessary and long overdue thinking about our nation's Cooperative Extension Service.
Perspective: Broad Field of Forestry: Let It Stay That Way
Authors: Schmidt C.
Published: April 2024

Our profession's primary effort must be the promotion of science-based management of the nation's forestlands, and this management must be consistent with the landowner's objectives.
Certification on Public and University Lands: Evaluations of FSC and SFI by the Forest Managers
Authors: Sample V.A. , Price W. , Mater C.M.
Published: April 2024

Three state public forest management agencies, a federal historic area, and two universities with extensive research forests participated in a study to test the applicability of the two major forest management certification programs to their forestlands. Two separate field-based assessments were performed on the same lands at approximately the same time. The agencies then participated in a “reverse evaluation,” in which they judged the relevance of independent, third-party certification to their mission and goals, and the degree to which each certification process facilitated improvements in the conservation and sustainable management of their forests. Among other differences between the certification programs, agency personnel found that SFI auditors were more rigorous in their expectations for continuous improvement, and FSC was more thorough in its coverage of biological, ecological, and social issues.
British Columbia's Environmental Forestry Policy Record in Perspective
Authors: Cashore B. , Auld G.
Published: April 2024

Some environmental groups and US forest companies, each for their own reasons, have criticized forest policy in British Columbia as lax, and the US Congress and media have taken up the call for stricter regulations in Canada. A comparison of BC forest policy with the policies of the USDA Forest Service and six major softwood-harvesting states reveals that British Columbia has more stringent regulations than has been supposed. Focusing on clearcutting, riparian zone management, and protected areas, we find that BC policy in spring 2001 was generally comparable to that of Washington State and Oregon; only the Forest Service had stricter rules. State practices in Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia were less stringent.
New Releases: Conserving Words: How American Nature Writers Shaped the Environmental Movement
Authors: Miller Char
Published: April 2024

In Conserving Words: How American Nature Writers Shaped the Environmental Movement, Daniel J. Philippon studies how five key figures in environmental history tried to rein in civilization while championing Nature.
System Design and Management for Restoring Penn's Woods
Authors: Jenkins Dylan H. , Devlin Daniel A. , Johnson Nels C. , Orndorff Stephanie P.
Published: April 2024

Pennsylvania has embarked on establishing a half-million-acre old-growth system within its 2.1 million acres of state forest. If successful, this system will contribute to the restoration of ecological functions associated with old-growth forests that have virtually disappeared from eastern ecosystems. However, the proposed old-growth forests must be resurrected from fragmented and structurally homogenous second-growth forests that are subject to anthropogenic disturbances. In the context of these disturbances, thoughtful system design and, in many instances, application of silvicultural practices will be necessary to protect, restore, and accelerate the accumulation of old-growth attributes in Pennsylvania's forests. We explore some initial design and management considerations for creating an eastern old-growth system.
Focus on ... Students and New Professionals: Forest Products Marketing: New Challenges Require New Skills
Authors: Palmer Alice
Published: April 2024

The role of the forest products marketer is to examine consumers' needs and then develop products, distribution methods, and promotion strategies to meet those needs.
Christmas Tree Marketing: Product, Price, Promotion, and Place Tactics
Authors: Larson Ronald B.
Published: April 2024

With more than 15,000 growers across the United States, natural Christmas trees are an important crop. As production specialists, many tree farmers have limited marketing knowledge. Christmas tree producers can expand their business using four marketing tools–product, price, promotion, and place–that form a useful framework for organizing marketing ideas. This article reviews the research on Christmas trees and other products for innovative tactics for marketing Christmas trees. By improving their application of the four Ps, tree producers and retailers can add more perceived value to their products, build customer loyalty, and boost their sales.
Asia's New Woods
Authors: Durst Patrick B. , Killmann Wulf , Brown Chris
Published: April 2024

Plantations of agricultural and industrial crops, such as rubber, coconut, bamboo, and oil palm, are providing important new “wood” sources for forest industries in Asia. Several of these new woods are becoming mainstream species in the manufacture of traditional forest products and in the production of innovative product lines in Asia. The estimated 27.4 million hectares of these crops in the region constitute an enormous resource that is still largely untapped. Technological improvements are permitting the use of previously wasted materials into plywood, particleboard, paper, and even lumber and furniture. The acceleration in rubberwood processing during the past decade is indicative of the potential importance that other crops may soon assume in Asian markets.
Commentary: A Personal Note
Authors: Beuter John H.
Published: April 2024

A personal note from the SAF president to the membership.
Developing Forest Management Plans with High-Tech Tools and Traditional Knowledge in Zambia
Authors: Polansky Cecilia , Heermans John
Published: April 2024

Simply transferring to other settings developed countries' sophisticated tools of modern forest management can be inappropriate. In a pilot program in Zambia, traditional knowledge of forest products is combined with satellite images, GPS, and GIS to adapt inventories and maps for forest management planning. The example used is the Cooperative League of the United States of America's Natural Resource Management Program. Development projects that place more emphasis on existing technology and input from local forest users and extension agents–and less on technical training and equipment–have the potential for more success in slowing the conversion and exploitation of tropical forests.
Aesthetics: Are We Neglecting a Critical Issue in Certification for Sustainable Forest Management?
Authors: Sheppard Stephen R. J. , Achiam Cecilia , D'Eon Robert G.
Published: April 2024

Current forest certification programs may be neglecting aesthetics and related public perception and acceptance issues, concentrating on more easily quantified socioeconomic and ecological criteria. Because aesthetics is an important value for forest users, and to avoid potential conflicts between certification status and public perception, we suggest that forests should be certified for aesthetic performance. Current forest certification programs weakly address aesthetics, if at all. Those systems that do consider aesthetics tend to be procedural rather than outcomes-based and generally do not encourage solid or consistent approaches to the problem. Visual resource management approaches provide some precedents that are not as yet widely used in certification, but they also have their limitations. We recommend that more effort be put into developing more robust indicators for aesthetics as part of certification programs.
What Do Forest Fires Really Cost?
Authors: Lynch Dennis L.
Published: April 2024

A seven-year quest to estimate forest fire costs in Colorado revealed a number of losses not usually considered. Catastrophic fires result in direct costs, rehabilitation costs, impact costs, and special value losses. They are wildfire events that imperil public health, safety, or welfare and result in significant degradation of the environment, substantial loss of property, and often death or injury of people. While each fire is unique, a series of large fire case studies, primarily in ponderosa pine forests, are used to develop a progression of cost estimates. The author concludes that damages to forest watershed values in the arid West may ultimately result in the most serious, long-term costs of large fires. A contrasting case study where fire has been a regular component of the forest ecosystem is used to question the tacit acceptance of very costly, extremely damaging catastrophic fires as natural events.
Societal Values and Economic Return Added for Forest Owners by Linking Forests to Bioenergy Production
Authors: Vogt Kristiina A. , Andreu Michael G. , Vogt Daniel J. , Sigurdardottir Ragnhildur , Edmonds Robert L. , Schiess Peter , Hodgson Kevin
Published: April 2024

Unless additional economic returns can be generated from ownership of forestlands, it will be difficult to simultaneously manage forests to include socially desired services while creating sustainable development opportunities for rural communities. One unique economic return is to collect nontimber forest materials for use in renewable energy production systems because this is compatible with obtaining socially based environmental services from forests while providing new economic return to forest owners. Bioenergy systems that transform wood using sustainable chemical practices are environmentally CO2-neutral and are able to supply other nonforestry-based industrial platforms (e.g., electricity, biofuels, pharmaceutical precursors, etc.).
Global Perspectives on Intensively Managed Plantations: Implications for the Pacific Northwest
Authors: Binkley Clark S. , Aronow Mary Ellen , Washburn Courtland L. , New David
Published: April 2024

Because of structural changes in the forest sector, the world increasingly relies on intensively managed plantations for its industrial timber supply. Pacific Northwest (PNW) forests are not immune to these same pressures. Increases in the availability of cheaper plantation-grown timber from other regions (e.g., the southern United States) will reduce the profitability of PNW forestry unless offsetting management actions are taken. But much of the land in the PNW has no better use, so it likely will remain forested, able to support a competitive forest products industry. Technological innovation can support profitable forestland ownership even if timber prices fall.
Forest Management and the H2B Guest Worker Program in the Southeastern United States: An Assessment of Contractors and Their Crews
Authors: McDaniel Josh , Casanova Vanessa
Published: April 2024

Tree-planting jobs in the southeastern United States are almost exclusively held by workers from Mexico and Central America. Most of these workers are in the H2B guest worker program, a program designed to assist nonagricultural industries facing labor shortages. Based on a survey and interviews with forest contractors, we found that H2B workers have become the most common workers in forest management and are favored by contractors competing for large-acreage contracts as well as contractors specializing in government and industry contracts. We discuss the advantages of H2B workers, as well as problems in the program from the workers' perspective in wages and working conditions. The policy implications of a potential expansion of guest worker programs are also discussed.
Effect of the Federal Estate Tax on Nonindustrial Private Forest Holdings
Authors: Greene John L. , Bullard Steven H. , Cushing Tamara L. , Beauvais Theodore
Published: April 2024

Data for this study were collected using a questionnaire mailed to randomly selected members of two forest owner organizations. Among the key findings is that 38% of forest estates owed federal estate tax, a rate many times higher than US estates in general. In 28% of the cases whereestate tax was due, timber or land was sold because other assets were not adequate. In 29% of the cases where land was sold, it was converted to a more developed use. Questionnaires also were mailed to randomly selected individuals from a national database of rural landowners for comparisonwith forest owners. For most of the characteristics surveyed, there was no statistical difference between responses from the two groups.
Public Involvement in USDA Forest Service Policymaking: A Literature Review
Authors: Leach William D.
Published: April 2024

This article provides a brief history of public participation in the USDA Forest Service from 1960 to the present and reviews 25 of the most significant empirical studies on the topic. Twenty-one broadly defined keys to success are identified in the literature and then organized in terms of process design traits, participant traits, and contextual traits. The most frequently cited factors in each category are, respectively, effective facilitation, active participation by agency staff, and support from agencywide policies and administrators. Summarized findings suggest several attributes the agency can look for when selecting individuals to facilitate collaborative planning processes involving multiple stakeholders.
Effects of Thinning Young Forests on Chanterelle Mushroom Production
Authors: Pilz David , Molina Randy , Mayo Jim
Published: April 2024

Chanterelle productivity responses were investigated in a replicated, landscape-scale thinning experiment in 50-year-old Douglas-fir stands in the Cascade Range of Oregon. Chanterelle numbers and weight were significantly decreased by thinning the first year after logging, more so inheavily thinned stands than lightly thinned stands for chanterelle numbers. Nearly all evidence of differences in chanterelle productivity among thinning treatment means disappeared within 6 years. Management implications and mitigation measures are discussed.
Sudden Oak Death in California: What Is the Potential?
Authors: Barrett Tara M. , Gatziolis Demetrios , Fried Jeremy S. , Waddell Karen L.
Published: April 2024

Sudden oak death, a disease associated with the pathogen Phytophthora ramorum, has a large number of shrub and tree host species. Three of the tree species most susceptible to mortality from the disease, California black oak (Quercus kelloggii), coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia), and tanoak (Lithocarpus densiflorus), are estimated to predominate by basal area on 1.52 (±0.10) million ac in 12 counties that currently are under quarantine for the disease. The variety, prevalence, and importance of host species to wildlife indicate a high potential for impact on forest ecosystems in California.
Planted Forests and Biodiversity
Authors: Carnus Jean-Michel , Parrotta John , Brockerhoff Eckehard , Arbez Michel , Jactel Hervé , Kremer Antoine , Lamb David , O’Hara Kevin , Walters Bradley
Published: April 2024

Expansion of planted forests and intensification of their management has raised concerns among forest managers and the public over the implications of these trends for sustainable production and conservation of forest biological diversity. We review the current state of knowledge on the impacts of plantation forestry on genetic and species diversity at different spatial scales and discuss the economic and ecological implications of biodiversity management within plantation stands and landscapes. Managing plantations to produce goods such as timber while also enhancing ecological services such as biodiversity involves tradeoffs, which can be made only with a clear understanding of the ecological context of plantations in the broader landscape and agreement among stakeholders on the desired balance of goods and ecological services from plantations.
A Landscape-Level Geographic Information System (GIS) Analysis of Streamside Management Zones on the Cumberland Plateau
Authors: Lemoine Derek , Evans Jonathan P. , Ken Smith C.
Published: April 2024

In this study, we developed and tested a geographic information system methodology to measure the width and slope of streamside management zones (SMZs). We also assessed the compliance of SMZs on the Cumberland Plateau of Tennessee with the quantitative portions of state best management practices and the sustainable forestry standards used by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative and the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). We found that using different standards greatly affected overall SMZ compliance and that FSC-level compliance varied as a function of type and resident status of forest owner.
More than Markets: Assessing Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Certification as a Policy Tool
Authors: Rickenbach Mark , Overdevest Christine
Published: April 2024

In this study, we compared US Forest Stewardship Council forest management certified enterprises as to their perceptions of certification’s effectiveness across three policy mechanisms: (1) market based, (2) signaling, and (3) learning. Signaling to stakeholders provided the highest satisfaction; however, there were differences across enterprise type. Small private enterprises reported lower satisfaction than public and large private enterprises for all mechanisms. Our findings also indicate that certification, for those already certified, likely will be an expectation into the future.
Forestry in Bangladesh: An Overview
Authors: Iftekhar Md. Sayed
Published: April 2024

Bangladesh houses a substantial amount of forests. People extract a range of goods and services from the forests. Although the accounted contribution of the forests in the national economy is reasonable, the social and ecological importance is immense. Although the Bangladesh government has taken several initiatives to protect them, the forests are being depleted due to many reasons. It is believed that in future, the degradation will be aggravated because of increasing population and persistent poverty. Demand for environmental goods will rise but will not be met because of continued forest degradation. In such situations multistakeholder-based conservation and forest extension activities are necessary to better manage the sector.
Sustainable Forestry in the Balance
Authors: Shifley Stephen R.
Published: April 2024

In the United States we increasingly restrict wood production in the name of sustainability while going abroad for an ever larger share of the wood we consume, even though our own forest resources per capita are greater than the rest of the Earth. The unintended consequence is we transfer impacts of harvesting and consumption elsewhere. If we believe impacts of harvesting and consumption are primarily positive, we should embrace them locally. If we believe impacts are negative, we should take responsibility for them locally and mitigate them. Sustainable forest management requires scalable solutions across geopolitical units: states, regions, nations, and Earth. There are some simple measures of sustainability applicable across all these scales to establish sideboards for sustainable forest management.
Forest Service Land Management Litigation 1989–2002
Authors: Keele Denise M. , Malmsheimer Robert W. , Floyd Donald W. , Perez Jerome E.
Published: April 2024

The land management decisions of the USDA Forest Service have been challenged and appealed frequently in federal court, and the agency believes such litigation constrains its professional expertise and frustrates effective forest management. This study provides the first complete picture of Forest Service land management litigation. Previous litigation studies limited their examination to published cases and did not analyze final case outcomes. We document the characteristics and final outcomes of 729 Forest Service management cases filed in federal court from 1989 to 2002. The Forest Service won 57.6% of cases, lost 21.3% of cases, and settled 17.6% of cases. It won 73% of the 575 cases decided by federal judges. Plaintiffs seeking less resource use lost more than half the cases they initiated, and plaintiffs seeking greater resource use lost more than two of every three cases they initiated. Most litigation (1) was for less resource use, (2) was based on the National Environmental Policy Act, and (3) challenged logging projects. The data indicate that the agency is less vulnerable in some types of cases and more vulnerable in others. This study provides policymakers, land managers, and stakeholders with accurate data that can help guide policy debate and choices.
A Financial Analysis of Small-Scale Tropical Reforestation with Native Species in Costa Rica
Authors: Streed Erik , Nichols J. Doland , Gallatin Ken
Published: April 2024

In 1990 four Peace Corps Volunteers in Costa Rica completed their service and started a private reforestation project. The goal was to see if a small tree plantation could be profitable compared with traditional land uses. This article discusses the economics of the first 15 years of the project, using actual cash flows, and makes projections for financial outcomes. We documented the yearly expenses and revenues (cash flows) for operating a small tropical woodlot, costs and/or revenues from the specific woodlot management operations, and profit projections over the 25-year life of the project. We used realized growth rates, milling costs, and wood sale prices to show that small-scale reforestation with mixtures of native species can be financially profitable, both for an investor and a farmer/landowner.
Preparing Resource and Environmental Managers with International Understanding and Merits (PREMIUM): Introducing a Research Experience for Undergraduates Program
Authors: Yin Runsheng
Published: April 2024

The Department of Forestry at Michigan State University was awarded a 3-year grant by the National Science Foundation in 2004 to conduct an undergraduate research project on the natural resource and environmental policy in China. Its goal is to engage undergraduate students in primary research of natural resource and environmental management in a unique international setting, featuring close mentoring, student and faculty teamwork, and multidisciplinary collaboration. This article introduces the project organization and activities and discusses its experience and benefits. It is shown that this type of program can make a great contribution not only to introducing students to the profession of resource and environmental management and developing their science careers, but also to graduate recruitment and scholarship nurturing.
Desertification and Restoration of Grasslands in Inner Mongolia
Authors: Meyer Natalie
Published: April 2024

Grasslands cover 40% of China's total land area and are the largest ecosystem threatened by desertification. Grassland degradation causes ecosystem instability and harms economic development. Historically, a series of policies led to a rapid shift in land tenure and stewardship practices, resulting in overgrazing and conversion of grassland to cropland. Protection and restoration of grasslands are thus a key component of China's fight against desertification. Current strategies in Inner Mongolia demonstrate the potential of an integrated approach to combating desertification. The Xilinguole pilot project further illustrates this approach, which includes tree planting, grassland closures, resettlement of displaced herders and farmers, and feeding demonstration. To be more effective, it is necessary to modify grassland management practices, create more off-farm jobs, and promote range grazing with a standardized adaptive stocking rate.
Woody Invaders and the Challenges They Pose to Forest Ecosystems in the Eastern United States
Authors: Webster Christopher R. , Jenkins Michael A. , Jose Shibu
Published: April 2024

Invasive exotic species pose significant challenges for natural resource managers charged with the maintenance of biological diversity and the sustainable production of forest resources. In this article, we review what is known about the biology and control of some of the most serious woody invaders of eastern forests. Based on the parallels between these invasions, we propose a working framework for integrating invasive control into forestry practices. In general, early detection and rapid response to invasions are essential. However, given that consistently effective control strategies that are broadly applicable simply do not exist for many species, adaptive management strategies will be necessary.
Impacts of Afforestation, Deforestation, and Reforestation on Forest Cover in China from 1949 to 2003
Authors: Zhang Yuxing , Song Conghe
Published: April 2024

China's forest cover increased from 8.6% in 1949 to 18.21% in 2003. The change of forest cover in China can be characterized in three stages: (1) transition stage (1949–1981), (2) slow increase stage (1982–1993), and (3) rapid increase stage (1994–2003). Afforestation is the primary factor increasing forest cover in China. Cumulative areas of afforestation in China from 1949 to 2003 were 241 million ha, of which 90 million ha eventually established as plantation forests, i.e., about 37% of the afforested area reach forest status. Harvesting consumed 13 billon m3 in timber volume from 1949 to 2003. Natural forests were the major source of timber production during the early years, and plantation forests became a major source of timber supply as they matured. Of the 90 million ha plantation forests, 53 million ha remained in 2003, the rest were harvested. The remaining plantations in 2003 contributed 5.0 of the 6.4 percentage points of increase in China's overall forest cover from1962 to 2003. Large areas of afforestation, intensive timber harvesting, and reforestation have made forest ecosystems in China become dominated by young stands, which has profound implications in their ecological functions in the terrestrial ecosystems.
Diameter Caps for Thinning Southwestern Ponderosa Pine Forests: Viewpoints, Effects, and Tradeoffs
Authors: Abella Scott R. , Fulé Peter Z. , Covington W. Wallace
Published: April 2024

Upper size limits of trees allowed to be cut, termed diameter caps, have resulted in polarization, litigation, and delays and alterations to thinning projects in many western forests. Using southwestern ponderosa pine forests as an example, we summarize viewpoints on caps, simulateeffects of caps on thinning prescriptions, and provide examples of ecosystem-level tradeoffs of leaving extra trees during thinning projects. The importance placed on trees versus other ecosystem components primarily differentiates those who support caps and those who do not. We conclude that diameter caps may enhance some ecosystem components, such as densities of large trees, but they negatively impact many nontree components.
Visualize Your Forest—Using Forest Simulation Software to Communicate Forest Management Concepts to Private Forestland Owners
Authors: Roth Paul , Finley J.C.
Published: April 2024

The Stand Visualization System (SVS) can reinforce understanding of forest management concepts when coupled with a “traditional” cooperative extension educational program to private forest landowners (PFLs). SVS, linked to the Forest Vegetation Simulator (FVS), creates a time-compressed series of images that convey the effects of growth, treatments, and disturbances on stand structure. Participants in 12 workshops were evaluated to understand shifts in attitudes and knowledge on a number of management concepts after exposure to presentations. SVS software can aid in communicating and reinforcing PFLs' understanding of forest management concepts.
Assessing Family Forestland Certification Opportunities: A Minnesota Case Study
Authors: Kilgore Michael A. , Leahy Jessica E. , Hibbard Calder M. , Donnay Jacob S.
Published: April 2024

Minnesota family forest owners were surveyed to assess their perspectives on forest certification. The study found that in spite of the increased visibility of forest certification, its awareness among family forest owners continues to be low. Moreover, after developing an understanding of forest certification, only 4% of family forest owners were certain they wanted to certify their forests, and 19% were sure they would never want to do so. Landowners familiar with certification were no more likely to certify than those who had not heard of the concept. The design and outcomes of a certification program were found to have a substantial influence on landowner interest in forest certification. The lack of owner awareness and interest in forest certification, forest management plan requirement, and limited group certification opportunities suggest substantial expansion of certified family forestland is unlikely in the foreseeable future.
What Are Forests For: The Place of Ethics in the Forestry Curriculum
Authors: Klenk Nicole L. , Brown Peter G.
Published: April 2024

A survey conducted to ascertain the degree of formal training in ethics offered to Canadian and American professional foresters and natural resource managers and technicians indicates that forestry ethics is not consistently and coherently covered in forestry curricula. We propose a framework for teaching forestry ethics such that professional codes of ethics are supplemented by environmental ethics and forest history. Environmental ethics offers a rich source of material to guide personal reflection, clarify the ethical dimensions of particular management decisions, and offers tools to facilitate normative discourse. However, this literature often lacks an integrated consideration of what actually happens. Forest history with its in-depth case studies and broad stroke depictions of past forest management decisions provides a surrogate for lived experience and a long-term perspective.
Managing Forest Structure and Fire Hazard—A Tool for Planners
Authors: Johnson Morris C. , Peterson David L. , Raymond Crystal L.
Published: April 2024

Fire planners and other resource managers need to examine a range of potential fuel and vegetation treatments to select options that will lead to desired outcomes for fire hazard and natural resource conditions. A new approach to this issue integrates concepts and tools from silviculture and fuel science to quantify outcomes for a large number of treatment options in dry forest stands in the western United States. Five silvicultural options (thinning from below to 50 trees per acre [tpa]; 100, 200, and 300 tpa; or no thinning) are considered in combination with three surface fuel treatments (pile and burn, prescribed fire, or no treatment), resulting in a range of alternative treatments for each representative stand. The Fire and Fuels Extension of the Forest Vegetation Simulator (FFE-FVS) was used to calculate (1) immediate effects of treatments on surface fuels, fire hazard, potential fire behavior, and forest structure (including visualizations); and (2) a 50-year time series of treatment effects at 10-year increments. These fuel treatment scenarios can be used as a starting point for examining alternatives for National Environmental Policy Act documents and other applications that require scientifically based information to quantify the effects of modifying forest structure and surface fuels. Forest managers also can develop customized treatments for specific locations and resource objectives. Scenarios and output can be used to inform ecological, economic, and sociological evaluations of the effects of fuel and vegetation treatments.
Social Science Informing Forest Management—Bringing New Knowledge to Fuels Managers
Authors: Jakes Pamela
Published: April 2024

To improve access, interpretability, and use of the full body of research, a pilot project was initiated by the USDA Forest Service to synthesize relevant scientific information and develop publications and decision support tools that managers can use to inform fuels treatment plans. This article provides an overview of the work of the Social Science Core Team. Team members synthesized social science research to improve fuels management on the topics of collaboration, communicating with homeowners, assessing social acceptability, aesthetics of fuels management, and impacts of wildland fire on communities.
“Provide It ⋯ But Will They Come?„: A Look at African American and Hispanic Visits to Federal Recreation Areas
Authors: Johnson Cassandra Y. , Bowker J. , Green Gary , Cordell H.
Published: April 2024

Recent data from the US Forest Service's onsite National Visitor Use Monitoring Survey (National Visitor Use Monitoring Survey, 2004. Unpublished demographic results for 2002–2003. Data on file with Donald English, Program Manager, Visitor Use Monitoring Project, Washington,DC) shows that visits made by African Americans account for very low percentages of visits to national forests across the country. This is true even in the South, a region where African Americans are highly concentrated. In contrast, Hispanic visits to national forests in the Southwest arehigh, relative to their population proportion. We examine additional national level household data on awareness of federal lands and management to help understand the discrepancy between Hispanic and African American recreational use of federal lands. We hypothesized that awareness, knowledgeof management objectives, and attitudes about fees would reduce African American/Hispanic visitation differences; but strong differences remained after accounting for these factors. Results suggest other factors such as private landownership, and social definitions of place may be useful inconsidering African American use of wildland public recreation areas in the South.
The Carbon Consequences of Thinning Techniques: Stand Structure Makes a Difference
Authors: Hoover Coeli , Stout Susan
Published: April 2024

Using results from a 25-year study of thinning in a northwestern Pennsylvania Allegheny hardwood stand, we assess whether and how thinning method affected carbon sequestration and merchantable volume production. Plots were thinned to similar residual relative density by removing treesfrom different portions of the diameter distribution. Plots that were thinned from below had greater volume production and carbon sequestration rates than plots that were thinned from the middle or thinned from above. Control plots, which were not thinned, also had higher carbon sequestrationrates than plots thinned from the middle and higher merchantable volume production and carbon sequestration rates than plots thinned from above. In this forest type, changing stand structure by thinning can affect carbon sequestration and stand growth either positively or negatively. Thoseeffects can be significant, with long-term implications for the growth of the stand. In general, structures that favored volume production also favor carbon sequestration.
What Do Foresters Think about Urban Forestry, Urban People, and Cities?
Authors: Ricard Robert M. , McDonough Maureen H.
Published: April 2024

Urban residents affect forest policy and hence forest management decisions and outcomes. In addition, urban forestry has become more visible, integrated, and influential in the Society of American Foresters (SAF). However, little is known about what foresters think urban people know about forestry, what emphasis foresters believe should be placed on urban forestry compared with traditional forestry, and what foresters think about the purposes of urban forestry. Results of a nationwide mail survey of SAF members suggest that urban forestry is well accepted as a community of interest by respondents, that respondents lean more toward loving cities than hating them, and that respondents believe urban people understand some specific forestry objectives, such as the link between forests and wood products, but not many others.
Comparing Job Quality in Logging and Forestry Services in Oregon
Authors: Moseley Cassandra , Reyes Yolanda
Published: April 2024

As logging employment continues to decline and forestry service employment grows, as they have over the past several decades, it is increasingly important to understand the relative quality of jobs in these two sectors. This study compares wages and job durability of loggers and forestry service workers in Oregon using unemployment insurance data. Using multiple wage measures (hourly, annual, and outside wages) and multiple job durability measures (employer changes, outside employment, seasonality, quarterly hours worked, and retention), this study finds that loggers typically earn more and have more durable jobs than forestry service workers.