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3 Methods

Applied approaches included statistical data analysis, growth and yield analysis, capital budgeting analysis, and literature review. The first step in assessing the status and trends of forest management practices in the South involved analysis of forest inventory statistics. Effects of particular plantation management practices on productivity were estimated from a forest industry survey, which served as a baseline for the development of planted pine growth and yield tables. The survey's results were used to develop five planted pine management intensity classes. Management treatments included site preparation, planting of genetically improved seedlings, applications of fertilizer and herbicide, and thinning.

The TAUYIELD model was used to evaluate effects of these management treatments on growth and yield. TAUYIELD is a stand-level growth and yield model for unthinned and thinned loblolly pine plantations (Amateis and others 1995). The model estimates number of trees, average height, basal area, and volume by diameter at breast height (d.b.h.) class.

Growth and yield analysis was the first step in the evaluation of the impact of forest investment on forest conditions and productivity. Capital budgeting analysis, which discounts the cash flow of investments, was used to develop financial indicators such as net present values (NPVs), soil expectation values (SEVs), and internal rates of return (IRRs). These measures were used to determine whether intensive forest management generates attractive returns. This step was supplemented with results of surveys of forest owners. Forest industry (FI), timberland management organizations (TIMOS), and nonindustrial private forest (NIPF) owners were asked about their current and future management approaches. Results permitted inferences about likely future management intensities and their impact on forest conditions and productivity.