1993-1998 Research Mission and Problem Area Description
The mission of the Research Work Unit (RWU) named "Economics of Forest Protection and Management" during this period was to analyze the economic status, trends, and opportunities for forest management in the South, including the effect of public programs and regulations on private forest landowners; to perform economic and biological impact assessments of forest insect, disease, and other forest health factors; to develop regional forest resource analysis models of inventory, multiple-use, and land area interactions; and to evaluate economic and social impacts of changing public values, laws, and programs.
Research Work Units structure their research around Problem Areas, those for this RWU are listed below with links to more detailed descriptions of research subareas and associated studies.
1. Forestry investment returns: Analyze the economic returns from forestry investments and timber marketing.
- Timberland investment
- Objectives and behavior
- Influence of change
2. Economics of forest health: Improve methods to estimate the economic impacts of factors affecting forest health and improve quantification of physical impacts of forest insect and disease attacks. [This problem area has been unfunded since 1993]
- Quantitative impacts
- Aggregate impacts
- Decision support systems
3. Regional resource models: Develop regional forest resource models to assess the effects of biological factors, anthropogenic change, market forces, and public policies on forest conditions.
- Market-level models
- Regional analyses
- Landscape/stand models
4. Public policy and objectives: Develop better information about the changing opinions and objectives of forest landowners and about the benefits and costs of public programs.
- Public involvement
- Rural communities
- Tropical forestry
- Public programs
