scholarly journals What do Louisiana and Mississippi Nonindustrial Private Forest Landowners Think about Forest Certification?

2007 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 170-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Priyan Perera ◽  
Richard P. Vlosky ◽  
Glenn Hughes ◽  
Michael A. Dunn

Abstract Nonindustrial private forest (NIPF) landowners own the majority of timberlands in the southern United States. As forest certification becomes more prevalent, it is important to understand the implications for NIPF landowners. This study, conducted in 2005–2006, reveals how well NIPF landowners in Louisiana and Mississippi understand forest certification, willingness to pay to become certified, and general perceptions about the certification process and implementation requirements. We surveyed 1,200 randomly selected NIPF landowners from each state that owned 10 ac or more of timberland in 2005. A total of 591 usable surveys resulted in an overall adjusted response rate of 30%. Forty percent of respondents believe certification is necessary on public lands. However, their lowest level of agreement is with the need for certification on private forestlands. Respondents believe certification in the United States is driven by environmental nongovernmental organizations rather than by demand in the marketplace. Private landowner organizations and approved professional foresters are the most trusted entities to administer and monitor certification. Results also suggest that respondents are generally not averse to having certifiers monitor their forest management activities; however, a majority are unwilling to bear the cost of certification.

Forests ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 86
Author(s):  
Elena C. Rubino ◽  
Nana Tian ◽  
Matthew H. Pelkki

Despite the socioeconomic and ecological significance of the 10.4 million acres of forestland owned by nonindustrial private forest (NIPF) landowners across Arkansas (approximately 58% of forestland in the state), only 5% of this land is certified through the American Tree Farm System. As such, understanding how to improve the reach and content of communications to NIPF landowners is vital for expanding certification participation and subsequent improvement of forest management in Arkansas and throughout the southern United States. To explore current and optimal communications to increase NIPF participation, we employed Berlo’s source–message–channel–receiver (SMCR, 1960) model to analyze survey data collected from Arkansas NIPF landowners regarding their familiarity with, interest in, and information sources for forest certification programs. Our results indicate that NIPF landowners have a relatively low familiarity with certification programs and a low interest in adopting a certification program regardless of personal involvement throughout the certification process, the transparency of on-sight inspections to the public, and the requirements of forest management plans. However, positive correlations were found between self-reported familiarity with certification programs and the perceived usefulness of various information sources, indicating that communications to NIPF landowners have the ability to be influential. Furthermore, the results showed that the greatest perceived benefits to landowners were improved timber growth and health, better management actions, and environmentally-friendly timber harvesting, whereas the most concerning perceived drawbacks were increased record-keeping and paperwork as well as management costs. These findings will offer actionable insights into future messaging campaigns and provide directions for new approaches of reaching NIPF landowners to increase their participation in forest certification.


2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (Supplement_3) ◽  
pp. iii466-iii466
Author(s):  
Karina Black ◽  
Jackie Middleton ◽  
Sunita Ghosh ◽  
David Eisenstat ◽  
Samor Patel

Abstract BACKGROUND Proton therapy for benign and malignant tumors has dosimetric and clinical advantages over photon therapy. Patients in Alberta, Canada are referred to the United States for proton treatment. The Alberta Heath Care Insurance Plan (AHCIP) pays for the proton treatment and the cost of flights to and from the United States (direct costs). This study aimed to determine the out-of-pocket expenses incurred by patients or their families (indirect costs). METHODS Invitation letters linked to an electronic survey were mailed to patients treated with protons between 2008 and 2018. Expenses for flights for other family members, accommodations, transportation, food, passports, insurance, and opportunity costs including lost wages and productivity were measured. RESULTS Fifty-nine invitation letters were mailed. Seventeen surveys were completed (28.8% response rate). One paper survey was mailed at participant request. Nine respondents were from parent/guardian, 8 from patients. All patients were accompanied to the US by a family member/friend. Considerable variability in costs and reimbursements were reported. Many of the accompanying family/friends had to miss work; only 3 patients themselves reported missed work. Time away from work varied, and varied as to whether it was paid or unpaid time off. CONCLUSIONS Respondents incurred indirect monetary and opportunity costs which were not covered by AHCIP when traveling out of country for proton therapy. Prospective studies could help provide current data minimizing recall bias. These data may be helpful for administrators in assessing the societal cost of out-of-country referral of patients for proton therapy.


2010 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
John F Cogan ◽  
R. Glenn Hubbard ◽  
Daniel Kessler

In this paper, we use publicly available data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey - Insurance Component (MEPS-IC) to investigate the effect of Massachusetts' health reform plan on employer-sponsored insurance premiums. We tabulate premium growth for private-sector employers in Massachusetts and the United States as a whole for 2004 - 2008. We estimate the effect of the plan as the difference in premium growth between Massachusetts and the United States between 2006 and 2008—that is, before versus after the plan—over and above the difference in premium growth for 2004 to 2006. We find that health reform in Massachusetts increased single-coverage employer-sponsored insurance premiums by about 6 percent, or $262. Although our research design has important limitations, it does suggest that policy makers should be concerned about the consequences of health reform for the cost of private insurance.


2000 ◽  
Vol 12 (S1) ◽  
pp. 67-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
William H. Coleman

There is a direct relationship between years lived beyond age 65 and the number of individuals diagnosed with dementia, primarily Alzheimer's disease (AD). The occurrence of AD has no socioeconomic, geographical, or ethnic limitations. The problem is worldwide. Its magnitude is demonstrated by the following facts: (a) approximately 6% to 8% of persons 65 years or older have AD, and the prevalence of the disease doubles each 5 years after 60 years of age; (b) 30% of 85-year-old individuals can be expected to have the disease; (c) AD affects an estimated 4 million people in the United States, and is expected to affect approximately 14 million Americans within the next few decades; (d) AD patients average 6 to 10 years of comprehensive treatment from symptom onset to death; (e) AD is the fourth leading cause of mortality among elderly Americans, more than 100,000 each year; (f) caregiver attempts at management of the behavioral and psychological symptoms of AD result in up to 50% developing significant psychological distress themselves; and (g) the cost for the management of AD patients is estimated to be between US $80 billion and US $120 billion annually. Primary care is essential for the appropriate diagnosis and treatment of the complex set of behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) associated with AD.


2011 ◽  
Vol 103 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. B. Mariotto ◽  
K. Robin Yabroff ◽  
Y. Shao ◽  
E. J. Feuer ◽  
M. L. Brown

Nuncius ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 249-281
Author(s):  
FRANCO PALLADINO

Abstract<title> SUMMARY </title>We have gathered here twenty-six writings from the correspondence of Giuseppe Peano, as well as letters by Alexander Macfarlane and Alexander Ziwet.Peano's letters were addressed to Ernesto Cesaro, an important member of the great Italian school of mathematics founded in the second half of the Nineteenth century. In these writings, Peano discusses various topics: Infinitesimal calculus and Barycentric calculus, the «Rivista di Matematica» and the «Formulario» of which he was editor; didactics and a question about Actuarial mathematics. Some of the writings are confidential in nature: in one letter, Peano proposes exchanging his professorial chair with Cesaro's, and hence transferring from Turin to Naples.The letters written by Macfarlane and Ziwet were sent to Peano; they contain, at the request of Cesaro, information concerning university chairs and the cost of living in the United States.


1979 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip R. P. Coelho ◽  
James F. Shepherd

Differences in regional prices and wages are examined for the United States in 1890, together with the relationship between the cost of living and city size, and the determinants of regional industrial growth. Results indicate that regional cost-of-liying differences were sufficiently large so that money wages cannot be used for purposes of comparing the economic well-being of wage earners across regions. Except for the South, money wages and the cost of living were positively correlated. The relative differences in money wages, however, were greater; consequently real wages in high wage-price areas were generally higher.


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