Taxation, life-time uncertainty and non-industrial private forest-owner's decision-making

The nonindustrial private forest (NIPF) owner's consumption and harvesting decisions are investigated under inheritance and capital income taxes using a two-period model. The impact of the forest-owner's age is introduced into the analysis through a parameter of perceived probability of surviving through a future period. This allows us to study the impacts of ageing on consumption and harvesting decisions as well as to see how the impact of taxes changes among different age groups of forest-owners. The results show that current consumption first decreases and then increases when moving from younger to older individuals regardless of whether non-timber assets are more or less heavily taxed through bequests than consumption. In general, we find that tax effects are dependent on the forest-owner's age. Age tends to intensify the increasing effect of the forest bequest tax on harvesting. The same is true with respect to the decreasing effect on harvesting of the inheritance tax imposed on non-forest assets. Furthermore, the forest-owner's age tends to intensify the effect on harvesting of the capital income tax imposed on forest assets, but diminishes the effect on harvesting of the capital income tax imposed on non-forest assets.     

森林采伐管理面临的问题与对策探讨——基于江西省的调查

总结回顾了江西省十一五期间森林采伐管理历程,江西省坚持森林采伐限额不突破,确保林农合法权益得到落实,惩处乱砍滥伐行为,加强林业部门能力建设。通过对全省11个设区市及26个县的调查认为:现行森林采伐管理政策滞后,受采伐限额制约经营者林木处置权难以落实,林木采伐管理对象多监管难以到位。为此提出了做好今后5年森林采伐管理工作的对策措施。     

Optimal management of a flammable forest providing timber and carbon sequestration benefits: an Australian case study*

In deciding to keep or fell a forest stand given its age, the risk of loss of timber through wildfire is an important consideration. If trees also have value from sequestration of carbon, another effect of fire is the unplanned loss of stored carbon. Factors affecting the decision to keep or fell trees, and how much to spend on fire protection, are investigated using stochastic dynamic programming, using carbon sequestration in stands of mountain ash in Victoria as a case study. The effect of treating sawlogs as a permanent carbon sink after harvesting is explored.     

峡江县“十一五”期间森林资源动态变化分析与评价

以峡江县2004、2009年森林资源二类调查数据为对象,从林地面积、林种结构、林龄结构、树种结构、林木蓄积、森林资源质量、人工林资源、林木蓄积生长量与消耗量、商品林与公益林、森林覆盖率等十个方面对该县"十一五"期间森林资源动态变化进行分析。从森林资源分布、森林覆盖率、森林结构、森林质量等方面详细地评价了峡江县森林资源状况,并针对森林资源管理方面提出建议。     

Adaptive management decision of agroforestry under timber price risk

In an effort to increase wood production and mitigate environmental problems, agro-forestry practices have emerged as a viable strategy in the Northern Plains of China, where one popular form of the agro-forestry system consists of fast-growing and high-yield plantation of poplar (populus) trees and the underwood planting of button mushroom (Agaricus bisporous). This paper examines adaptive management decision-making with stochastic dynamic programming under risk of timber price. Under the assumption of risk neutral preferences of the investors, the results suggest that the reservation price strategy remains optimal for the harvesting decision of agro-forests: when the timber price is higher than the reservation price, poplar trees should be harvested to end agro-forestry; otherwise, the trees should be retained. Numerical results are presented for sample agro-forest stands, which show that, with underwood planting, the reservation price for timber harvesting will be higher than that in pure forest.     

An engineering economics approach to the estimation of forest fuel supply in North-Trøndelag county, Norway

The article reports a study performed in North-Trøndelag county in Norway, aiming at identifying the economic supply curve for forest fuels. Using an engineering economics approach, the potential forest fuel production is described as a function of the existing traditional forestry. Based on a set of energy raw materials including (i) harvesting residues, (ii) low-quality trees, (iii) thinnings and (iv) hardwoods, necessary adjustments of the existing forestry technology are described and used as a basis for the calculations. Depending on fuel market prices, a total annual amount of forest fuels close to 0.5 TWh is available in the county.     

森林采伐限额管理工作的问题与建议

森林采伐限额是采伐消耗森林、林木蓄积的最大限量。实行森林采伐限额管理是《森林法》确定的一项重要法律制度,是控制森林资源过量消耗的核心措施和加强森林可持续经营的关键手段。阐述了森林采伐限额的概念,分析了梨树县当前采伐制度存在的一些问题,提出了改进措施及具体做法,以寻求最佳的森林采伐管理制度,保护好国家珍贵而有限的森林资源,达到科学经营的目的。     

Aggregating forest harvesting activities in forest plantations through Integer Linear Programming and Goal Programming

The inclusion of criteria related to the spatial patterns resulting from forest harvesting activities is an important component of forest planning. Harvesting operations are more efficient when the harvesting areas are clustered. Therewith, it is possible to reduce the displacement of machinery and costs related to construction and maintenance of the road network. In this context, the objective of this study was to evaluate different strategies for aggregating harvesting stands in a forest plantation. We applied two Goal Programming approaches aiming at aggregating harvesting stands and an Integer Linear Programming model for including road investments into strategic forest planning.     

An engineering economics approach to the estimation of forest fuel supply in North-Trøndelag county,Norway

The article reports a study performed in North-Trøndelag county in Norway, aiming at identifying the economic supply curve for forest fuels. Using an engineering economics approach, the potential forest fuel production is described as a function of the existing traditional forestry. Based on a set of energy raw materials including (i) harvesting residues, (ii) low-quality trees, (iii) thinnings and (iv) hardwoods, necessary adjustments of the existing forestry technology are described and used as a basis for the calculations. Depending on fuel market prices, a total annual amount of forest fuels close to 0.5 TWh is available in the county.     

林农对非公有制林木采伐管理改革的认知与改革意愿分析——基于河北省3个平原试点县的调查

采用访谈和问卷调查相结合的方式,选择河北省3个平原试点县的林农作为调查对象,就林农对现行林木采伐管理改革的认知、评价和意愿进行考察与分析,得出了以下主要结论:第一,试点县对森林采伐管理改革政策内容的宣传不够,大部分林农对最新的政策不清楚;第二,绝大多数林农对国家实施采伐限额制度改革的目的比较清楚;第三,林木采伐管理改革得到了林农的普遍支持。最后试图在尊重林农意愿的基础上,对完善非公有制林木采伐管理改革提出了合理化建议。     

Scale of harvesting by non-industrial private forest landowners

We examine the intensity of harvesting decision by non-industrial landowners at the lowest price offer they deem acceptable, using a multiple bounded discrete choice stated preference approach that draws upon and connects two subfields of forestry, one identifying characteristics of landowners important to past harvesting or reforestation decisions, and another proposing how landowners evaluate price offers for forest harvesting decisions. Variables important to harvest intensity choices when the landowners find an acceptable price have only been considered for those landowners who actually have participated in harvesting markets, whereas here we examine the behavior of these individuals as well as those who are on the margin (i.e., have not harvested at prevailing current or past market prices). We show that harvest intensity depends critically on the extent of urbanization, indicated by the presence of structures on a parcel as well as forested tract size, along with landowner characteristics such as absenteeism and length of ownership. The results are useful for understanding the timber management behavior for a majority of landowners who may not harvest at prevailing prices, but may participate should prices reach a level acceptable to them, where this level is determined by individual preferences for standing timber resources.     

The effect of on-site forest experience on stated preferences for low-impact timber harvesting programs

An important issue in the design of stated-preference surveys is whether the information provided to respondents within a survey instrument is adequate to yield valid value estimates. Providing respondents with on-site experience about forest ecosystem management alternatives may influence their expectation of the effects from new policies and programs. In the research reported here, we investigate whether preference parameters for attributes of low-impact timber harvesting programs differ between respondents to a mail survey versus respondents provided with an on-site forest experience (walk through a research forest). The empirical analysis in our application shows that stated preferences for timber harvesting attributes are not statistically different between the mail and on-site applications of the survey, and this result is robust to pretest (before experience) and post-test (post experience) applications.     

集体林权制度改革是对林业基层党风廉政建设的有力推动

福建、江西、云南3省纪检监察部门积极参与林改及深化配套改革工作,着力建章立制,规范林业行政行为,从源头上预防腐败,有效地促进了基层党风廉政建设。特别是在涉及林农切身利益的林木采伐指标分配、森林资源流转等方面"阳光作业、规范运作、手段先进、监督到位",取得了良好的效果。深化集体林权改革的突出成效在于基层林业的权力结构、权力机制、权力运行方式发生大的变化,真正把一系列权力赋予了农民,调动了林农耕山育林、发展林业、增收致富的积极性,也为从制度上铲除滋生腐败的土壤创造了条件。     

基于IRF与VD的黑龙江国有林区林业经济带动效果研究

随着天保工程和国有林区商业性禁伐的全面展开,黑龙江国有林区林业经济的发展急需转型。由于不同林业产业对其他林业产业的带动作用不尽相同,可以从动态内生增长的角度运用脉冲响应函数(IRF)和方差分解(VD)来分析主要林业产业对林业经济增长的带动效果。研究结果表明:现阶段黑龙江国有林区主要林业产业对其他林业产业带动作用的大小顺序依次为木材加工及竹藤棕苇制品制造、木材采运、经济林产品的种植与采集、森林旅游与休闲服务、林木的培养和种植,随着林业经济的转型升级,森林旅游与休闲服务和经济林产品的种植与采集的带动作用将逐步增强,并且形成多元化林业主导产业格局。基于研究,提出优化林业产业结构,加速林业经济转型;促进林产品深加工,打造全国知名品牌;依托森林资源优势,发展森林生态旅游等建议。     

Is there a forest transition outside forests? Trajectories of farm trees and effects on ecosystem services in an agricultural landscape in Eastern Germany

Most industrial countries have experienced a transformation of land use: from decreasing to expanding forest areas, the so-called forest transition. Outside closed forests, European rural landscapes exhibit a diversity of tree-based agricultural systems, but the question of whether this forest transition has also affected ‘trees outside forests’ has rarely been studied. The aim of this study is to analyze the spatial-temporal dynamics of farm trees and woodlands in an agricultural landscape in Eastern Germany from 1964 to 2008, based on aerial photographs and digital orthophotos. Taking a landscape ecological perspective, we quantify farm tree dynamics, disentangle processes of gain and loss in the socialist and post-socialist periods of Eastern Germany, and assess differences in ecosystem services provided by farm trees. A substantial increase of overall tree cover by 24.8% was observed for the selected time period, but trajectories have been disparate across different farm tree classes. The increase in tree cover was stronger in steep valleys than on hills and plateaus, indicating a significant interdependence between topography and trajectories of change. Patch numbers of farm trees did not increase, which suggests that the expansion of tree cover is mostly due to a spatial expansion of previously existing tree patches. Overall net gains in tree cover were rather similar during the socialist and post-socialist eras. The general increase in tree cover was accompanied by increase in agriculture-related ecosystem service provision, but the increase in pollination and pest control services was much lower than that in water purification services. These findings present the first empirical evidence from an industrialized country that there is also an ongoing ‘forest transition’ outside closed forests. Potential, partially counteracting drivers of change during the socialist and post-socialist periods have mainly been related to farm policies and the environmental consciousness of land users and society as a whole.     

The optimal selective logging regime and the Faustmann formula

This study analyzes the optimal selective logging regime of a size-distributed forest where individual trees compete for scarce resources such as space, light, and nutrients. The decision problem of the forest manager is formulated as a distributed optimal control problem. The interpretation of the first-order conditions allows a generalization of the Faustmann formula. In an empirical part, this article numerically determines the optimal management regime of a size-structured forest and shows that the optimal selective logging regime is associated with a normal forest under a wider variety of situations than stated in the previous literature.     

基于期权定价模型与灰色关联度分析的林木资产评估方法研究

首先对林木资产B-S期权定价模型和灰色关联度分析的方法进行简要概述并评价其优缺点,然后以宁陕县马尾松林木交易实例,运用灰色关联度分析得出马尾松的公允市场价格,代入期权定价模型,求出待评估马尾松的评估价值,并据此形成一种改进的林木资产评估方法。     

Forest conservation programs and the landowners who prefer them: Profiling family forest owners in the New York City watershed

Voluntary forest conservation programs offer family forest owners (FFO) financial incentives in exchange for legally-binding land use restrictions and/or management obligations. Protecting family forests in the Catskill Mountains region of New York is an important policy objective, as these watersheds provide clean drinking water to New York City. Multiple methods were used to elicit preferences for forest conservation program attributes and to identify potential barriers to participation. Respondents to a mailed survey were grouped according to the program attribute that most influenced their likely participation into forest conservation programs. Respondents were identified as time-sensitive, payment value-sensitive, rights-sensitive, payment mode-sensitive, or harvest-sensitive. Comparing groups revealed significant differences in age, attitudes towards harvesting trees, income, and importance of timber production. Supplemental qualitative data was collected during three focus groups of survey respondents and analyzed for general themes. Focus group discussions revealed a lack of knowledge about conservation easement programs, reluctance to burden landowners’ children with encumbered land inheritances, concerns for resale values and tax assessment, and a simmering animosity towards New York City’s watershed management efforts. We offer strategies to address these concerns and to design programs that will foster greater participation among FFOs in the region.     

发展赴俄森林采伐产业的思考

内蒙古大兴安岭森林采伐量锐减,为了有效地解决问题,林区应该根据自身发展的需要,把赴俄采伐作为森工企业的发展项目,坚持"走出去"的发展战略,整合现有对俄采伐加工项目,建立统一管理的赴俄采伐机构,实行股份合作制经营,走规模化经营发展之路,扩大赴俄合作采伐的生产规模,真正促进赴俄采伐产业的健康有序发展。针对内蒙古大兴安岭林区发展赴俄采伐产业实际进行分析,提出了相应的意见和建议。