/pdf/forest-regions-of-canada-12gq7bwjca.pdf

Forest Regions of Canada

Although public opinion and social issues have significant influence on policy-making, research on forest vegetation management (FVM) in Canada has a strong focus on biological aspects, with less attention being paid to social concerns. This paper reviews the social context in which FVM occurs. Individual views about FVM reflect a combination of values, beliefs, and attitude while also including differing perceptions of risks. Public views and the broader social acceptability of management decisions can be linked to five key factors: context, risk, aesthetics, trust, and knowledge. Judgements about acceptability will usually change over time and across specific situations and various segments of a population could make opposing judgements. We identify a variety of public concerns related to FVM in Canada, synthesizing research that can help resource managers consider the social impacts of their choices. We also note particular concerns related to Aboriginal peoples and the FVM workforce. Information about...

/pdf/social-concerns-risk-and-the-acceptability-of-forest-4fe2z500eb.pdf

Social Concerns, Risk and The Acceptability of Forest Vegetation Management Alternatives: Insights for Managers

The Green River precommercial thinning (PCT) trials were established between 1959 and 1961 in naturally regenerating balsam fir (Abies balsamea [L.] Mill.)-dominated stands an average of eight years after overstory removal. Following clearcut harvest of three of the study's six replicates in the fall of 2008, the rotation-length effects of PCT and vegetation management (VM; deciduous tree and brush suppression) on the forest value chain were integrated into a spreadsheet-based model that estimates the net present value (NPV) of these silvicultural treatments. Assuming costs and prices near recent values, both PCT and VM were observed to support positive landowner NPVs through discount rates in excess of 6%. At a discount rate of 4% and an age where sawlog production was maximized, PCT and VM offered similar NPV (>$550/ha). Landowners that can attract buyers willing to pay a premium for wood from thinned stands (equal to the sum of reduced operational overhead charges, harvesting and sawmilling costs and i...

Effects of precommercial thinning on the forest value chain in northwestern New Brunswick: Part 6 – Estimating the economic benefits

Intensive plantation forestry is a potent strategy for forest managers to increase wood production on a smaller forest land acreage, especially with the use of genetically improved reforestation stock. The main drawback with conventional conifer improvement is the several decades it takes before stock deployment, which is particularly acute in the context of climate change and evolving wood markets. Use of genomic selection allows to drastically shorten breeding cycles, resulting in more flexibility and potentially increasing benefits. This study compares the financial performance of five white spruce (Picea glauca) breeding and deployment scenarios, from conventional breeding to genomic selection in conjunction with top-grafting or the use of somatic embryogenesis, in the context of plantations established by the Quebec government on public lands with banned herbicide use. We estimated the land expectation value (LEV) for the five scenarios applied to eight site productivity indices, and considered costs and revenues from breeding, plantation establishment, silviculture, and harvest. LEVs at 4% discount rate were positive for all scenarios on all site indices, and varied from $197 to $2015 ha−1 assuming mechanical brushing of the plantations. The scenarios integrating genomic selection resulted in the highest LEVs, which increased with site index. We also conducted sensitivity analyses with 3% and 5% discount rates, with a range of costs and benefits, and with herbicide control of competing vegetation. These results should help orientate public investment decisions regarding the integration of genomic selection at the operational level in tree breeding and reforestation programs on public lands.

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Conventional versus genomic selection for white spruce improvement: a comparison of costs and benefits of plantations on Quebec public lands

Young Norway spruce stands (Picea abies [L.] Karst) are typically cleaned of non-crop species on one or several occasions during young stand stage. In order to objectively evaluate the perceived benefits of early cleaning (EC), we studied the effects of EC on three study sites 2–2.5 years after receiving the treatment. Experiments were established as a randomised complete block design with a total of 40 blocks. Although height growth and mortality were not significantly affected, we found that EC substantially reduced canopy competition and, consequently, the mean diameter of released spruce grew 21–32% faster depending on the site. Furthermore, non-crop trees that were cleared during EC had fewer sprouts in two of the three sites and the sprouts were substantially smaller than the corresponding non-crop trees on control in all sites. EC can reduce the cost of pre-commercial thinning because EC reduced the estimated time needed for subsequent management by 18–49%. Thus, EC offers forest owners and manager...

Effects of early cleaning on young Picea abies stands

This is the publisher’s version of a work published in The Forestry Chronicle 87:2 (2011) The version on the publisher's website can be viewed at http://pubs.cif-ifc.org/doi/abs/10.5558/tfc2011-013

/pdf/benefit-cost-analysis-of-vegetation-management-alternatives-4gyerqws7q.pdf

Benefit–cost Analysis of Vegetation Management Alternatives: An Ontario Case Study

This is the publisher’s version of a work published in The Forestry Chronicle 90:1 (2014) The version on the publisher's website can be viewed at http://pubs.cif-ifc.org/doi/abs/10.5558/tfc2011-012

Krishnahari Homagain

Papers

Benefit–cost Analysis of Vegetation Management Alternatives: An Ontario Case Study

Differences in Extrinsic Tree Quality and Value of Fibre Production Following Alternative Vegetation Management Treatments in Northwestern Ontario