Optimal management of Pinus pinaster in Galicia (Spain) under risk of fire

Pinus pinaster is the most important conifer in Galicia in terms of volume and production, occurs mainly in plantations. Forest fires are the main threat to forest plantations, affecting optimal stand management. The aim of this study was to develop management prescriptions for P. pinaster based on growth and yield models and optimisations. The objective function was soil expectation value, calculated taking the expected fire losses into account. Fire risk was assumed to consist of two components, probability of occurrence and damage. As the main cause of forest fires in Galicia is arson, the manager cannot significantly influence fire occurrence, which was assumed to be exogenous. Salvage was treated as an endogenous factor depending on the management schedule followed in the stand. Optimisations were done for different initial stands, timber assortments, discount rates and probabilities of fire occurrence. Based on the optimisation results, regression models were developed for the optimal rotation length as well as the timing and intensity of thinnings. The results show that when fire risk is partly endogenous, optimal rotation lengths become shorter with increasing probability of fire occurrence, and optimal thinning becomes heavier and earlier. However, without a price reduction for burned timber, the optimal rotation length increases with increasing probability of fire.

Can hybrid poplar save industrial forestry in Canada?: A financial analysis in Alberta and policy considerations

Intensifying forest management has the potential to alleviate pressures of competing land uses, maintain global competitiveness in the face of increasing exotic plantations, and increase the value of the boreal forest resource. Yet, such initiatives have largely been stymied in Canada's boreal regions because intensive forest management of native tree species is not financially viable. The yield curve estimation and financial analysis conducted in this paper, however, suggests intensive management of hybrid poplar in Alberta could be financially viable. The financial viability of such initiatives will depend heavily on the policies that governments use — such as priority-use zoning — to encourage or discourage such trends. But before reforming policy, decision-makers must trade off the environmental implications of industrial plantations of exotic species with the potential gains from priority-use zoning. Key words: soil expectation value, optimal economic rotation, hybrid poplar, priority-use zoning, intensive forest management

The Effect of Carbon Revenues on the Rotation and Profitability of Loblolly Pine Plantations in East Texas

This study determined the profitability and financially optimal thinning and final harvest rotation of loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) managed exclusively for timber production or for dual products of timber production and carbon sequestration. The results suggest that 1) depending on landowner’s alternative rate of return, the inclusion of carbon revenues in forest management may shorten or prolong the optimal timber-carbon rotation length, compared to the optimal rotation that maximizes timber value only; 2) the effect of carbon revenues on the optimal rotation length and the percentage gain in soil expectation value is larger on low-productivity sites than on high-productivity sites, and is larger for high interest rates than for low interest rates; and 3) low-productivity, unprofitable sites may become profitable when carbon revenue is included and optimized together with the timber revenue.South. J. Appl. For.30(1):21–29.

Economic Analysis of Growth Effects of Thinning and Fertilization of Lodgepole Pine in Alberta, Canada

This study examined the economic profitability of eight combinations of thinning and fertilization treatments applied to 40-year-old natural stands of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl. Var. latifolia Engelm) in Alberta, Canada. The eight treatments, consisting of four levels of nitrogen fertilizer application (0, 180, 360, and 540 kg ha−1) and two levels of thinning (thinned and unthinned), were applied in 1984 in a randomized complete block design with factorial treatments and nine replications per treatment. The diameters and heights of all trees on the experimental plots were measured in 1984, 1989, 1994, and 1999. A simple factorial analysis of variance (ANOVA) with the 1984 volume as a covariate showed that both fertilization and thinning increased volume growth significantly. Economic analyses showed that thinning without fertilization was the most profitable treatment combination. The ranking of profitability was based on the soil expectation value and assumed that the thinnings had a commercial value. If thinnings had no market value, then the unthinned treatments were more profitable than their corresponding thinned ones. The profitability ranking was robust for real discount rates of 4 to 10%. To improve economic profitability, fertilization of lodgepole pine should be carried out when the stands are in an optimal stand density range for the site to ensure that the increased growth is concentrated on the most valuable trees with the best growth potential.North. J. Appl. For. 22(4):254–261.

Optimal Management of Shortleaf Pine Plantations in the Central United States

A dynamic programming (DP) algorithm was developed for shortleaf pine in the Central United States. All thinning strategies examined (above, below, above and below, and mechanical) improved economic returns with thinning from above returning the highest soil expectation value (SEV). A planting density of 500 trees/ac maximized economic returns under all economic conditions. SEV was found to increase with site, and rotation length decreased on better sites. As sawtimber stumpage prices decreased relative to pulpwood prices, thinning was no longer economically advantageous. Finally, under conditions of uncertainty related to future prices, rotation length decreases slightly. North. J. Appl. For. 14(2):67-71.

Decision Analysis and Sensitivity Testing of Reforestation Strategies1

Decision analysis might provide better guidance in silvicultural decisions if users could understand the relative impact of component assumptions and subjective judgments more easily. A reforestation project in western Oregon that involved four alternatives was structured as a decision analysis problem. The optimal solution ranked the alternatives based on their probabilistically weighted soil expectation value (SEV). The solution was tested to determine its sensitivity across realistic ranges in costs, probabilities, and biological responses. Relative rankings were most sensitive to cost components with wide natural ranges (such as prescribed burning) and to variations in 15-year survival and growth predictions; rankings were least sensitive to probability estimates. Rankings were quite stable even when the detail in the parameters was increased. A systematic sensitivity analysis pointed out the impact of errors or uncertainty in judgment and focused the decision maker's effort in information gathering and reanalysis. West. J. Appl. For. 6(3):73-78.

Red-Cockaded Woodpecker Habitat Management and Longleaf Pine Straw Production: An Economic Analysis

This paper contains an economic analysis of shelterwood management of longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill) with markets for both timber and pine straw. It was found that extended rotations required for red-cockaded woodpecker (Picoides borealis) habitat, while not optimal, are better when pine straw is also a market product than when considering timber alone. Rotation ages were fixed at 60, 80, 100, and 120 years to provide red-cockaded woodpecker habitat. A single thinning is included with variable timing and intensity. Intensive site treatments are also included to control litter, grasses, hardwood, and brown spot disease. An equation for pine straw yield as a function of basal area is presented. Pine straw may increase soil expectation value by more than 230% over that provided by timber alone. South. J. Appl. For. 15(2):88-92.

Economics of Red Pine Management for Utility Pole Timber

Including utility poles in red pine management regimes leads to distinctly different management recommendations. Where utility pole markets exist, managing for poles will maximize net returns. To do so, plantations should be planted with a minimum of 890 trees/ac. Residual thinning densities should be maintained above 110 ft²/ac, higher than usually recommended. In Michigan's northern Lower Peninsula, approximately 195,000 ac of established stands were suitable for utility pole management in 1980. Landowners can increase the soil expectation value (4% discount rate) on their investment from $4.00/ac to $104/ac by managing for poles along with pulpwood and sawtimber on site index 75, well-stocked stands. North. J Appl. For 8(1):22-25

A Preliminary Analysis of Short-rotation Aspen Management

Stand-yield models were developed for stem and branch wood, stem wood and conventional utilization standards for various sites and initial densities. A model of sucker reproduction following harvesting is also presented. These models were then subjected to conventional economic analyses and long-term simulation comparisons. Results indicate that aspen rotations may be moderately shortened, with substantial increases in yields if utilization standards are increased. Greatest potential lies with the best sites, but more complete utilization standards may also allow operations on sites currently considered marginal. Rotations based on the usual soil-expectation value criteria could be reduced from the current 35 to 45-year range (at 5% discount rate) down to 20–30 years. Extremely short rotations (e.g., < 15 years) appear undesirable due to sustained rapid volume and value growth rates well into the third decade.