Search

This study contributes to the research of enlargement â a counterforce of parcelization â of forest holdings. To help planning policy measures aiming at increased average size of forest holdings, we study the characteristics of family forest owners who acquired additional forestland area during the years 2004â2008. Increases of forestland area due to purchases on the open market, purchases from parents or other relatives, inheritance or gift are studied. Survey data, containing information of 6318 forest owners, are analyzed with logistic regression analysis in order to establish a relationship between the probability of increasing the forestland area and the characteristics of landowners. The results indicate that young male owners, who appreciate economic values of the ownership and are active users of their forest estates, most often expand their forest property. This can be considered as an encouraging result from the point of view of the political objective to boost forest management activity through enlarging family forest holdings.

This study addresses the question of how much carbon will be sequestered in wood products during the coming decades in Finland. Using sawnwood and other wood material consumption data since the 1950s and inventory data of carbon reservoirs of wood products in the Finnish construction and civil engineering sector, we first derive estimates for the carbon reservoirs in wood products-in-use in that sector. We then extend the estimate to include all wood products-in-use. We find that the carbon pool of wood products in the Finnish construction and civil engineering sector grew by about 12% since an inventory for 2000, and that the overall estimate for carbon reservoirs of Finnish wood products in 2004 was 26.6 million tons of carbon. In building the scenarios until 2050, econometric time series models accounting for the relationship between wood material consumption and the development of GDP were used. The results indicate that the range of carbon reservoirs of wood products in Finland will be 39.6â64.2 million tons of carbon in the year 2050. The impacts of different forms of the decay function on the time-path of a carbon sink and its value in wood products were also studied. When a logistic decay pattern is used, the discounted value of the predicted carbon sink of wood products in Finland is between EUR850 and EUR1380 million â at the price level of EUR15/CO ton â as opposed to 440â900 million euros, if a geometric decay pattern is used.2

Abstract: This paper investigates the impacts of forest taxes within an age-class forest model where the landowner derives utility from both consumption and the amenity values of standing forest. The [...]

A forest model with an endogenous growth description and age-class structure is applied to study the impacts of potential climate policy instruments on the carbon services of privately owned and managed forests. The model describes the behaviour of a utility-maximizing private nonindustrial landowner who optimizes consumption flow, harvest timing, and the intertemporal allocation of silvicultural investments. Two policy options, one in which the landowner is granted periodic carbon rental payments and one in which the government subsidizes the costs of silvicultural investments, are studied. The rules for when the policy measures have both intended and unintended effects are derived. Using numerical examples, we demonstrate that the effectiveness of both policy options depends on the age-class structure of forests when future carbon benefits are discounted. In that case, carbon rental payments are more effective for forests with old age-class structures, while silvicultural subsidies are more effective for forests with young age-class structures. Un modele forestier, comportant des modules endogenes pour la croissance et la structure des classes d'age, est utilise afin d'etudier les impacts d'instruments potentiels consideres dans le cadre d'une politique climatique au sujet des services environnementaux que l'amenagement de forets privees pourrait procurer en terme de carbone. Le modele decrit le comportement d'un proprietaire non industriel qui maximise son utilite tout en optimisant sa consommation, la programmation des coupes et l'allocation intertemporelle des intrants sylvicoles. L'objet de l'etude concerne une politique prevoyant le paiement d'une rente periodique au proprietaire en echange du carbone immobilise et une autre selon laquelle le gouvernement subventionne le coht des investissements sylvicoles. Nous derivons des regles selon que les mesures appliquames ont les effets attendus ou non. Nous montrons, a l'aide d'exemples chiffres, que l'efficacite; de ces mesures depend de la structure d'age des forets quand les benefices futurs associes au carbone sont escomptes. Par exemple, les rentes payees pour la retention du carbone sont plus efficaces quand la foret presente une structure agee. A l'inverse, les subventions a la sylviculture sont plus efficaces quand la foret comporte une structure d'age plus jeune. [Traduit par la Redaction], Introduction The potential of forests has been widely recognized in climate policies (Adams et al. 1999; IPCC 2001). The role of forest management in abating climate change includes establishing plantations, [...]

Abstract: In this paper, the effects of stumpage prices and forest and landowner characteristics on nonindustrial private forest owners' long-run timber supply are examined using cross-sectional variation in a data [...]

Boreal coniferous forests decrease climate forcing by sequestering carbon from the atmosphere. However, they also increase climate forcing through their effect on surface albedo, as coniferous forests make Earth's surface darker. Ignoring the warming effect of albedo can lead to a flawed climate policy that overstates the benefits of forest carbon sequestration. In this paper, we examine how these climate externalities affect the socially optimal harvest rotations and the social land value of a forest stand that is managed for timber, carbon, and albedo under changing economic and ecological conditions. We also examine how the relative importance of these externalities changes over time. We show that the rotations and the land value are sensitive to the changing external conditions, especially in the long run. Hence, for policy‐ relevance, stand‐level analyses with long examination horizons should account for these changes. In general, the carbon externality increases land value and lengthens rotations, whereas the albedo externality decreases land value and shortens rotations. At our study site in Finland, the positive effect of carbon on land value is stronger than the negative effect of albedo. The opposite effects of the two externalities on the timing of harvests are currently of equal strength, which means that they cancel out. More generally, inferences regarding the impacts of the externalities vary depending on climatic conditions, the incidence of solar irradiance, and the shadow prices of carbon and albedo. We discuss the extrapolation of our results throughout the boreal region based on variation in these factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public right of access, everyman’s or everyone's right, freedom to roam, right of public access to the wilderness and the right to roam are terms used for concepts that give people an independent right of access to forest land and rural areas for recreational or passage purposes. Access is not a self-evident right nor are the practices in different countries resolved alike. In this paper, we review how the public right of access is resolved in different countries, with a focus on cases in Sweden and Finland. We highlight problems that arise when the right of access enables extensive use of the land by the public and may make everyone’s right prone to features related to the tragedy of the commons. We find that the code regarding public access depends largely on cultural, historical, and political differences and thus has no international or unambiguous definition as to what it includes or should include. The concept has worked considerably well throughout time but, as the original reasons for the right have waned and recreational use and demand have increased, the question has been raised whether everyone’s right should be redefined to prevent complications between users and landowners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]