Application of Choice Experiments to Determine Stakeholder Preferences for Woody Biomass Harvesting Guidelines

Biomass harvesting guidelines (BHGs) have been developed to address concerns about the sustainability of harvesting woody biomass. Assessing preferences among BHG stakeholders is important for designing operationally feasible and socially acceptable standards in different contexts. We used choice modeling to determine how foresters, loggers, and landowners perceived the relative importance of stumpage price, wildlife habitat quality, percentage of coarse woody debris (CWD) remaining, and distribution of CWD in their choices of BHG scenarios. Responses (N = 718) indicated stumpage price was nearly double the importance of wildlife habitat quality, and three times more important than debris distribution and debris remaining.