Forest Health and Wildlife Habitat Management on the Boise National Forest,Idaho

The National Forest Management Act (NFMA) requires the Forest Service to provide for diversity of plant and animal communities and maintain viable wildlife populations. Changes in forest stand structure, species composition and disturbance patterns within ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa)-Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) habitat types on the Boise National Forest make it difficult to meet NFMA direction. Three management strategies, including "no action," were evaluated in terms of the risk of wildfire's effects on plant community diversity and distrbution, dispersal, and local population viability for the pileated woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) and flammulated owl (Otus flammeolus). The no action alternative appeared to have the greatest long-term risk to plant community diversity and wildlife species distribution and dispersal. Landscape analysis that considers the capabilities and risks associated with different-management strategies is recommended to meet NFMA direction while responding to diverse public expectations of the Forest.     

美国国有林的发展与对策

文章回顾了美国国有林的发展历程,并介绍了一些重大历史事件。作者着重阐明了美国国有林的管理体制和技术经济政策。     

The privatisation of New Zealand forests

During the 1980s and early 1990s, the New Zealand economy went through radical economic changes, overhauling almost all aspects of economic policy. The New Zealand Forest Service was not exempt from these changes. This paper describes two major aspects of that change: the way the New Zealand Forest Service, like many other state trading activities, was restructured first through corporatisation under the State-Owned Enterprises Act 1986 which has ultimately led to privatisation; and secondly through the enactment of the New Zealand Resource Management Act 1991 which has fundamentally altered environmental management in New Zealand. The Act's underlying principle is based on the principle of sustainable management. This principle forms the foundation of forest management in New Zealand. Whether the restructuring and privatisation will produce a more efficient forestry sector is an issue that the author does not address. The Crown Assets sales are an ongoing and dynamic process which still have not been completed. This is a shortened version of a chapter originally presented in her LL.M. Thesis in 1995.     

The Magna Charta of Environmental Legislation: A historical look at 30 years of NEPA-Forest Service Litigation

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1970 changed the landscape of natural resource management by requiring federal agencies to assess the environmental consequences of their proposed actions and to include the public in their decision-making processes. Of all federal agencies in the United States, the Forest Service prepares the most Environmental Impact Statements under NEPA. The U.S. Forest Service manages the National Forest System, public forestlands comprising approximately 9% of the United States land area. The overall objectives of this study were to (1) determine the litigants, success rates, and management activities disputed for NEPA litigation involving the Forest Service from 1970 to 2001 and (2) examine differences and patterns in cases among the U.S. District, Circuit, and Supreme Courts. Methods include a historical analysis of published court cases and results show an increasing trend in the number of NEPA-Forest Service cases in the federal courts. Environmental groups were the most common litigants in NEPA-Forest Service cases and timber harvesting, management plans, and endangered species were the subject of the majority of cases in both the U.S. District Court and the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The Forest Service won a preponderance of cases in which they were involved with success rates of 60% in U.S. District Court, 57% in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and 100% in the U.S. Supreme Court.     

Consequences of the Swedish forest policy

This article demonstrates that the opportunity cost (return forgone) of cutting principles imposed by the Swedish forest policy is economically significant. The Swedish Forestry Act of 1979 recommends a management strategy for sustaining high yields of valuable timber referred to here as the Balance Strategy. However, the Forestry Act allows for a range of different forest management strategies. The Act establishes both a minimum cutting volume for a ten‐year‐period and a maximum final cut area referred to here as the Minimum and Maximum Strategies, respectively. These strategies were compared to a management plan, referred to as the Economic Strategy, for minimizing the opportunity cost for the forest owner. Based on data from a recent forest management plan, a simulation model was used to predict yields and economic returns for a period of one hundred years. The results show that at a 4% interest rate the Economic Strategy produces a gain of approximately 8200 SEK ha^‐1. The Economic Strategy, however, emphasizes volume and its implementation results in a forest far different from that developed under the Balance Strategy, in which quality timber is also produced. The Economic Strategy may also have less favourable effects on biodiversity, conservation of the natural environment and the recreational value of the forest.     

The Forest of Dean--Forest Park

The Forest of Dean has been an area of outstanding nationaleconomic importance because of its mineral wealth and timberresources. Iron ore had been mined and smelted with the aidof charcoal since the earliest times. Coal-mining subsequentlybecame a major industry in the nineteenth century and coke replacedcharcoal in the ironworks. Exploitation of the timber resourcesof the Forest reached its peak in the middle of the seventeenthcentury. This was accentuated by excessive grazing of sheep,pigs, and other animals. There was national concern for thedisappearing supplies of naval ship-timber. This culminatedin the Dean Forest (Reafforestation) Act of 1668 Forest management had its ups and downs. The Napoleonic Warsmade tremendous demands on the Dean oak and the nineteenth centurysaw a new wave of reafforestation and the tending of oak speciallyfor shipbuilding. Unfortunately the demand for oak ship-timberceased about the middle of the century because of the developmentof iron warships. The twentieth century has not only seen twoworld wars deplete the Forest of its timber but has witnessedthe introduction of planned forest management and the large-scaleuse of conifers, some of which are particularly suited to theDean environment. More than half the woodland is now stockedwith conifers but there have been amenity safeguards and theeffect is not unpleasing.     

Simulating restoration strategies for a southern boreal forest landscape with complex land ownership patterns

Restoring altered forest landscapes toward their ranges of natural variability (RNV) may enhance ecosystem sustainability and resiliency, but such efforts can be hampered by complex land ownership and management patterns. We evaluated restoration potential for southern-boreal forests in the ∼2.1 million ha Border Lakes Region of northern Minnesota (U.S.A.) and Ontario (Canada), where spatially distinct timber harvest and fire suppression histories have differentially altered forest conditions (composition, age–class distribution, and landscape structure) among major management areas, effectively resulting in forest landscape “bifurcation.” We used a forest landscape simulation model to evaluate potential for four hypothetical management and two natural disturbance scenarios to restore forest conditions and reduce bifurcation, including: (1) a current management scenario that simulated timber harvest and fire suppression practices among major landowners; (2) three restoration scenarios that simulated combinations of wildland fire use and cross-boundary timber harvest designed to emulate natural disturbance patterns; (3) a historical natural disturbance scenario that simulated pre-EuroAmerican settlement fire regimes and windthrow; and (4) a contemporary fire regime that simulated fire suppression, but no timber harvest. Forest composition and landscape structure for a 200-year model period were compared among scenarios, among major land management regions within scenarios, and to six RNV benchmarks. The current management scenario met only one RNV benchmark and did not move forest composition, age–class distribution, or landscape structures toward the RNV, and it increased forest landscape bifurcation between primarily timber-managed and wilderness areas. The historical natural disturbance scenario met five RNV benchmarks and the restoration scenarios as many as five, by generally restoring forest composition, age–class distributions, and landscape structures, and reducing bifurcation of forest conditions. The contemporary natural disturbance scenario met only one benchmark and generally created a forest landscape dominated by large patches of late-successional, fire-prone forests. Some forest types (e.g., white and red pine) declined in all scenarios, despite simulated restoration strategies. It may not be possible to achieve all objectives under a single management scenario, and complications, such as fire-risk, may limit strategies. However, our model suggests that timber harvest and fire regimes that emulate natural disturbance patterns can move forest landscapes toward the RNV.     

线性规划在森林收获调整中的应用

本文以南平地区建瓯水西林场的现实森林为研究对象,重点以杉木中径材作为主要材料,根据该场对树种结构的要求和适地适树原则,运用线性规划方法建立该经营类型的森林收获调整模型,并分析了调整期内各分期的面积变化情况。     

Ecology-oriented House Builders and FSC-certified Domestic Timber in Japan

Forest owners’ cooperatives are one of the leading organizations in the forest sector in Japan. Yusuhara Forest Owners’ Cooperative (YFOC) in Kochi Prefecture is one of such examples, which obtained FSC forest certification as a resource manager of the forest, which belongs to more than 1,200 small-scale forest owners. YFOC has successfully expanded sales of FSC-labeled timber in recent years. Most of their certified timber is purchased by house builders in urban cities including Osaka. This paper analyzes who desires FSC-certified timber from YFOC and why. Six case studies are reported, which reveal that ecology-oriented house builders are interested in using FSC certified timber because of traceability of the timber, price advantage from direct dealing, environmentally sound forest management of YFOC, and relatively high quality of the timber.