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Economic Impacts of Biomass Removals

This study, titled “A National Study of the Economic Impacts of Biomass Removals to Mitigate Wildfire Damages on Federal, State, and Private Lands,” is funded under a 2001 grant from the Joint Fire Science Program.

Collaborators

• Bob Rummer, Southern Research Station
• Fred Cubbage, North Carolina State University
• Jamie Barbour, Pacific Northwest Research Station
• Roger Fight, Pacific Northwest Research Station
• Peter Ince, Forest Products Laboratory

Objectives

Decades of fire suppression in fire-prone forested regions of the western and southern United States have created conditions favorable for catastrophic wildfires. Systematic stand density reduction through mechanical methods or a combination of mechanical methods and prescribed burning may address the fuel buildup, but the economic consequences of the biomass reductions from such a program are unclear. In this study, we evaluate the economic consequences of introducing biomass removals into wood products markets. In particular, we calculate the economic consequences of fire-related biomass removals from public lands on public and private timber producers and timber demanding firms within and outside of areas of biomass treatment zones. To do this, we have assembled information on (a) biomass removals cost and wood outputs, provided by the Fire and Fire Surrogates national study; (b) forest inventory, timber product output, and timber demand sector, provided by the Forest Products Laboratory and Forest Inventory and Analysis programs in fire-prone regions; (c) wood product prices nationwide; and (d) timber demand and supply historical price and quantity relationships within and among regions. The information is being used to project the effects of various scales of biomass removals programs on prices and economic surplus of private and public producers and the timber demand sector. Results of the analyses are being assembled and prepared in a format that could be used by federal land managers who are considering embarking on a biomass removals programs and need to understand the economic consequences of such a program on National Forest receipts and the broader local community.

Products

• Abt, K.L.; Prestemon, J.P.;Ince, P.; Barbour, J.; Fight, R. and Rummer, R. 2003. The market economics of mechanical fuel treatments. Presentation at the 2nd International Wildland Fire Ecology and Fire Management Congress, Orlando, FL, Nov. 16-20.
• Abt, Karen L., and Jeffrey P. Prestemon. 2006. Timber markets and fuel treatments in the western US. Natural Resource Modeling 19(1):15-43.
• Rummer, B.; Prestemon, J.P.; May, D.; Miles, P.; Vissage, J.S.; McRoberts, R.E.; Liknes, G.; Shepperd, W.D.; Ferguson, D.; Elliot, W.; Miller, S.; Reutebuch, S.E.; Barbour, J.; Fried, J.; Stokes, B.; Bilek, E.; Skog, K. and Hartsough, B. 2003. A strategic assessment of forest biomass and fuel reduction treatments in western states. http://www.fs.fed.us/research/pdf/Western_final.pdf
• Final report
  • Economics of Biomass Removals: Final Report to the Joint Fire Science Program, May 31, 2006 (pdf 124KB)
    • Attachment 1 pdf, 222 kb
    • Attachment 2 pdf, 131 kb
    • Attachment 3 pdf, 164 kb
    • Attachment 4 pdf, 194 kb
    • Attachment 5 pdf, 325 kb
    • Attachment 6 pdf, 31 kb
    • Attachment 7 pdf, 520 kb
    • Attachment 8 pdf, 960 kb
    • Attachment 9 pdf, 960 kb
    • Attachment 10 pdf, 562 kb
    • Attachment 11 pdf, 1,022 kb
    • Attachment 12 pdf, 19 kb
    • Attachment 13 pdf, 1,638 kb
• Prestemon, Jeffrey P., Karen L. Abt, and Robert J. Huggett, Jr. 2006. A description of the timber-based RTP mixed-integer goal program economic model.
• Huggett, Robert J., Jr., Wayne Shepperd, and Karen Abt. 2006. The spatial and temporal impacts of mechanical fuel treatments on wildfire hazard ratings in Colorado.
• Huggett, Robert J., Jr., and Karen L. Abt. 2006. Mechanical fuel treatments on timberland in the western United States and their impact on wildfire hazard ratings.
• Skog, Kenneth, and R. James Barbour. 2006. Estimating woody biomass supply from thinning treatments to reduce fire hazard in the U.S. West. International Association of Wildland Fire. P. 657-672 In: Andrews, Patricia L.; Butler, Bret W., comps. 2006. Fuels Management-How to Measure Success: Conference Proceedings. 28-30 March 2006; Portland, OR. Proceedings RMRS-P-41. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station.
• Ince, Peter J., and Henry Spelter. 2006. Design and objectives of FTM-West model. P. 635-646 In: Andrews, Patricia L.; Butler, Bret W., comps. 2006. Fuels Management-How to Measure Success: Conference Proceedings. 28-30 March 2006; Portland, OR. Proceedings RMRS-P-41. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station.
• Ince, Peter J., Andrew Kramp, Henry Spelter, Ken Skog, and Dennis Dykstra. 2006. FTM-West: fuel treatment market model for U.S. West. P. 275-291 In: Proceedings of Southern Forest Economics Workgroup (SOFEW): forestry, economics and environment, 2005 April 18-20, Baton Rouge, LA. Baton Rouge, LA : Louisiana State University.

Contacts

Karen L. Abt and Jeff Prestemon

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