(Not) Counting Trees

The UWEX Learning Store has just published, Expanding Sustainable Forestry on Wisconsin Woodlands. This publication reports on recent research describing Wisconsin's woodland owners, focused in two areas:

Considering a timber sale? Don't know where to start? Here are some resources for you to consider.

Publications

Scott Mueller (Wisconsin DNR), Bill Klase (UWEX), and Kris Tiles (UWEX) recently published a two-page fact sheet entitled, "Factors Influencing Timber Prices for Landowners" (pdf).

You all remember the punning Mr. Peabody and his "wayback" machine, right? I used to watch him on Sundays growing up...

Well, here is an oldie from Wisconsin's forestry past: "Governor's Council on Forest Productivity Final Report" (pdf, 7.1 MB). It is a fairly comprehensive look at how the state viewed forests and forestry at the time--my how things have changed (and not).

In following up on yesterday's post, I scanned one publication entitled, A Century Apart, that David Brooks' cited in his op-ed piece.

A week or so ago, I was interviewed by the National Network of Forest Practitioners (NNFP) about the history of forest cooperatives in the USA. The content is a slight update of material published in 2006 as part of a USDA Forest Service General Technical Report.

The interview was video- and audio- recorded right on my front porch and will at some point be edited and released. I'll post when available.

Since the 1970s, there've been questions about the effects of property tax incentives and tax-exempt lands on local communities. The main concerns are tax shifts and revenue shortfalls. UW-Madison has produced at least three reports on the subject over the years (as have others). All indicate no impact.

We conducted a study in 2008 that suggests this is no longer the case. New entries into the MFL (and other tax reduction or exemption status) do have an effect on local revenues and other taxpayers.

Here are links to three such studies from 1973, 1976, and 1983.

Forest management on private woodlands has largely been understood through the lens of private woodland owners. This is, of course, an important perspective, but what do other actors involved in private forestry think? This paper explores this perspective.

Knoot, T.G., L.A. Schulte, N. Grudens-Schuck, & M. Rickenbach. 2009. The Changing Social Landscape in the Midwest: A Boon for Forestry and Bust for Oak? Journal of Forestry 107(5):260-266.

ABSTRACT

How are members of landowner cooperative connected? How might we evaluate a landowner cooperative?

Rickenbach, M. 2009. Serving members and reaching others: The performance and social networks of a landowner cooperative, Forest Policy and Economics 11(2009):593-599. [doi:10.1016/j.forpol.2009.08.006]

ABSTRACT