(Not) Counting Trees

A portion of our current political discourse centers on government, its failings, and how it should be different. For anyone seriously interested in understanding government bureaucracy, why it is, how it works, and how to think about change, I would recommend spending time with James Q. Wilson's classic, Bureaucracy: What Government Agencies Do and Why They Do It (Basic Books, 1989, ISBN 978-0-465-00785-1).

Made an error in my description of woodlands and landowners owning 10 or more acres on my recent post: Extent of Woodland Leasing in Wisconsin: Insights from a recent landowner survey. This has been corrected. My apologies.

We seek a motivated PhD or MS student to pursue research in the social sciences related to bio- and sustainable energy. This project will investigate public perceptions and values associated with emerging sustainable energy platforms across Wisconsin. It also will engage the public in dialogue about those  values and preferences toward helping communities and others better plan their energy future.

The Assembly version of the proposed changes to the MFL is AB402, and has been assigned to the Assembly Forestry Committee. You can track its progress here or by RSS.

Key Findings

• Leasing occurs on 7-9% of private woodlands.
• 6.0% of landowners not enrolled in the Managed Forest Law (MFL) in a 2010 survey reported leasing land for activities such as hunting.
• Larger parcels are leased more frequently reflecting greater economic motivations for landownership.
• Demographically, those who lease have slightly higher educational attainment, but are otherwise similar.

Introduction

Satellite technology enables rapid, accurate mapping of forest harvest in upper Midwest (Nov. 9, 2011):

Research from our department written up as UW press release...meant to post sooner

For the last several months, I've been involved with the Driftless Forest Network, a consortium of forestry interests in the Driftless Area seeking to harness peer-to-peer models to influence land management and to build outreach capacity among resource managers and others.

On Nov 1, the Assembly Forestry Committee will take public testimony on AB342.

The Legislative Reference Bureau summarizes the bill as follows:

Click here for press release from Governor's office.

This is an old press release (August), but one I had trouble finding initially. Luckily, the DNR posted it as part of their Wisconsin Forestry Notes, distributed by e-mail. (See here for subscription information.)

I've looked on AF&PA's website for the report with the data, but have not found it. 

Department of Revenue's Fiscal estimates (pdf) of the MFL changes (SB161) are available. Note that these are an incomplete assessment as the MFL is largely under the Department of Natural Resources' purview.