This book reviews the status of discipline-wide activity in forest economics and policy research, especially investment levels, past and current program emphasis, program planning, and organizational involvement. It defines strategic directions for forest economics and policy research.

This book reviews the status of discipline-wide activity in forest economics and policy research, especially investment levels, past and current program emphasis, program planning, and organizational involvement. It defines strategic directions for forest economics and policy research.

This title was first published in 2003. The 'Economics of Forestry' is a specialized subset of resource economics addressing a specific natural resource - the forest - which is usually a relatively long time period. Hence, forest economics has characteristics similar to nonrenewable resources but also has those of a renewable resource, in some cases approaching those of agriculture. This volume comprises some of the most significant journal essays in forest economics and forest policy. The International Library of Environmental Economics and Policy explores the influence of economics on the development of environmental and natural resource policy. In a series of twenty five volumes, the most significant journal essays in key areas of contemporary environmental and resource policy are collected. Scholars who are recognized for their expertise and contribution to the literature in the various research areas serve as volume editors and write essays that provides the context for the collection. Volumes in the series reflect three broad strands of economic research including 1) Natural and Environmental Resources, 2) Policy Instruments and Institutions and 3) Methodology. The editors, in their introduction to each volume, provide a state-of-the-art overview of the topic and explain the influence and relevance of the collected papers on the development of policy. This reference series provides access to the economic literature that has shaped contemporary perspectives on land use analysis and policy.

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.