Developing site disturbance standards in Ontario: Linking Science to Forest Policy within an Adaptive Management Framework

In anticipation of the review and revision of Ontario's current site protection guidelines, a site disturbance task team was formed in 2004. Over the next two years, they conducted an extensive review of the scientific literature and existing guidelines from other jurisdictions, as well as engaging both forest industry partners and Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR) field services personnel in a consensus building exercise (i.e., client survey, field tours, and formal workshops). The goal of their efforts was to develop a set of provincial-level site disturbance standards with metrics to be considered as part of Ontario's new stand/site guide scheduled for release in 2009 and implemented in the 2011 forest management plans. The process developed by the task team was a pro-active approach that engaged the end users of the product throughout the process and should provide stronger accountability to the public and increase competency in our practices. Setting the first iteration of a standard as a practical benchmark for rutting (depth 3 cm, length 4 m and cumulative limits for each harvest block - 10% for clearcut and 2% for partial cut systems) will allow the forest industry to adapt to the approach relatively easily and provide a visual indicator of performance. It was stressed that there needs to be a rigorous effectiveness monitoring protocol based on objective-based silviculture that is integrated within an adaptive management framework. This, in turn, will provide local science and evidence to: (1) conduct a comprehensive evaluation to the effects and impacts of site disturbance, (2) provide a quantitative, results-based evaluation of the effectiveness of the proposed guidelines, and (3) increase core competency and performance with respect to silviculture effectiveness and the role of soil disturbance in meeting our forest management objectives. Without a strong commitment and linkage of compliance, effectiveness, and validation monitoring, Ontario's forest policy development will largely remain in a state of "repeat or react" rather than "evaluate and adjust". Key words: Soil disturbance standards, science/policy linkages, adaptive management

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A review of the Sustainable Forest Management framework in Victoria, Australia: an innovative example of sub-national forest policy

International Forestry Review ◽

10.1505/ifor.9.4.901 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 9 (4) ◽

pp. 901-911 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

G.M Hickey ◽

S Citroen

Keyword(s):

Forest Management ◽

Sustainable Forest Management ◽

Forest Policy ◽

National Forest ◽

Management Framework ◽

National Forest Policy

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Woodlot owner organizations in Québec adjusting to changes in primary products

The Forestry Chronicle ◽

10.5558/tfc70265-3 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 70 (3) ◽

pp. 265-267

Author(s):

Victor Brunette

Keyword(s):

Forest Management ◽

Policy Development ◽

Forest Cover ◽

Labour Force ◽

Paper Industry ◽

Forest Policy ◽

Forest Harvesting ◽

Private Forests ◽

Growing Stock ◽

Primary Products

In Quebec, where the resource based industry has prevailed for many decades, a good portion of history is based on forestry and agriculture. Farmers and woodlot owners have been involved with primary products marketing structures for more than 25 years. Forest policy development for non industrial private forests has evolved in different ways in neighbouring provinces but intrinsic problems related to forest management, forest harvesting and products marketing are quite similar for all woodlot owners.The area under small private ownership in Québec covers only 9 per cent of the productive forest land. These woodlots nonetheless supply each year about 18 per cent of the timber needed by the wood using industry. The revenue of wood sales, the financial value of forest management, the upkeep of 10,000 jobs and the purchase of goods and services contribute 400 million dollars to the provincial economy. The annual harvest on private woodlots yields a final processed value of more than 1.5 billion dollars of forest products.Private woodlots are located along major waterways, in the southern part of the province, where growing conditions are the most suitable to forest crops. The woodlot sector benefits from the availability of a qualified and motivated labour force, from a well-developed road network and other infrastructures. Forest cover is 60 per cent hardwoods and 40 per cent softwoods. Only 24 per cent of the growing stock is spruce, fir, and jack pine, species which have traditionally been in strong demand for the pulp and paper industry. (FPBQ, 1989).There are inherent disadvantages to private forestry in Quebec such as the great dispersion of the individual woodlots and the small area of each woodlot (107 hectares for active pulpwood producers; 60 hectares per owner). The development of these forests must also overcome other disadvantages including the great number of owners (120,000) and the fact that many of these owners sometimes lack information and incentive.

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Advancing the cause? Contributions of criteria and indicators to sustainable forest management in Canada

The Forestry Chronicle ◽

10.5558/tfc2011-047 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 87 (04) ◽

pp. 488-493 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Peter Duinker

Keyword(s):

Forest Management ◽

Policy Development ◽

Sustainable Forest Management ◽

Forest Policy ◽

Forest Sector ◽

Full Potential ◽

Criteria And Indicators ◽

Wide Range ◽

Practical Experiences ◽

Forest Values

The aim of the paper is to take stock, based on my personal scholarly and practical experiences, of the progress made in Canada with criteria and indicators of sustainable forest management (C&I-SFM). Some developmental history is reviewed, and applications at national and local levels are summarized. In my opinion, Canada's work in developing and applying C&I-SFM has been beneficial, particularly in focussing forest-sector dialogues, in sensitizing people to the wide range of forest values, and in retrospective determinations of progress in SFM. Improvements over the next decade are needed in several areas: (a) improving data-collection programs; (b) linking C&I-SFM more directly into forest policy development; (c) shifting from retrospective to prospective sustainability analysis; and (d) applying C&I-SFM to non-industrial forests such as protected areas and urban forests. The C&I-SFM concept is sound. We have yet to tap its full potential in the pursuit of forest and forest-sector sustainability.

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Risk Aversion and Timber Harvest Strategies: A Case Study of Nonindustrial Private Forest Management in Louisiana

Small-scale Forestry ◽

10.1007/s11842-021-09498-1 ◽

2022 ◽

Author(s):

Hua Wang ◽

Naveen Adusumilli ◽

Michael Blazier ◽

Santosh Pathak

Keyword(s):

Forest Management ◽

Risk Aversion ◽

Risk Premium ◽

Policy Development ◽

Forest Policy ◽

Risk Preference ◽

Timber Harvest ◽

Forest Owners ◽

Management Actions ◽

Management Alternatives

AbstractForest owners face many challenges regarding forest management due to the long period from planting to harvest. Along with the economic and environmental factors that influence management actions, the owners' attitude to risk plays a crucial role in forest management decisions. This study shows that understanding the effects of the owner's risk preference for management actions is an important step to form an effective forest policy. The objectives of the study are to (1) assess the economic advantage of forest management alternatives over a range of risk aversion coefficients and (2) determine the financial incentive (risk premium) corresponding to a forest owners' risk attitude. We implemented the stochastic efficiency with respect to a function framework to evaluate a set of fertilization, herbicide, and thinning management alternatives at mid-rotation loblolly pine plantations in Louisiana. Results from this study indicate that forest owner's risk preference affects their decision to select management actions. Financial incentives are substantially different for specific management alternatives between risk-neutral and risk-averse forest owners. The results can guide forest policy development where agencies can modify financial assistance programs to improve the adoption of management actions.

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Obstacles to Silviculture in Canada

The Forestry Chronicle ◽

10.5558/tfc61091-2 ◽

1985 ◽

Vol 61 (2) ◽

pp. 91-96 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Peter H. Pearse

Keyword(s):

Forest Management ◽

Forest Policy ◽

Property Tax ◽

Raw Material ◽

Policy Framework ◽

Forest Industry ◽

Critical Importance ◽

Policy Makers ◽

Forest Tenure ◽

Timber Markets

As the source of raw material for Canada's forest industry shifts from the frontier of original timber to managed crops, the policy framework influencing investments in silviculture assumes critical importance. Opportunities for economically beneficial silviculture are probably substantial, but policy makers have been provided with surprisingly little evidence of the kind they need to allocate budgets appropriately. Moreover, governments have created serious obstacles to silviculture through property tax systems that generate disincentives to forest enhancement, through forest tenure arrangements that are insecure or dampen regional timber markets, and through regulations that impede or distort silvicultural effort. Removal of these obstacles, and provision of information and guidance about silvicultural opportunities, would give considerable stimulus to improved forest management in Canada and undoubtedly at less cost than new governmental silvicultural programs. Key words: forest policy economic opportunities, incentives and obstacles for forestry, silvicultural investments, forest regulations.

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Institutional vacuums in Canadian forest policy: Can criteria and indicators and certification of sustainable forest management fill the void?

The Forestry Chronicle ◽

10.5558/tfc85277-2 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 85 (2) ◽

pp. 277-284

Author(s):

M.K. (Marty) Luckert ◽

Peter C Boxall

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Forest Management ◽

Property Rights ◽

Sustainable Forest Management ◽

Forest Policy ◽

Forest Industry ◽

Criteria And Indicators ◽

Current Thinking ◽

Policy Frameworks ◽

Forest Lands

This paper discusses the potential of certification and criteria and indicators (C&I) of sustainable forest management (SFM) for filling voids in forest policy in Canada. These processes have promised advances towards SFM that the current property rights conveyed on the forest industry, through existing systems of tenures, may simply not allow. In general, the broad social welfare approach that current thinking in sustainable development supports, and that certification and criteria and indicators appear to employ, is not consistent with the incentives, rights, and responsibilities that private forestry firms currently hold. There is a fundamental mismatch between the property rights that have been conveyed to private firms operating on public forest lands and what the policy frameworks of certification and C&I are expected to deliver. The conclusion is that if the voids in forest policy are to be successfully filled by certification and C&I, the underlying property rights currently held by firms will need revision. Key words: sustainable forest management, criteria and indicators, certification, Canadian forest policy, forest tenures

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Wicked problems and metaforestry: Is the era of management over?

The Forestry Chronicle ◽

10.5558/tfc78505-4 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 78 (4) ◽

pp. 505-510 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Sen Wang

Keyword(s):

Forest Management ◽

Key Words ◽

Adaptive Management ◽

Sustainable Forest Management ◽

Forest Policy ◽

Wicked Problems ◽

Criteria And Indicators

The world's forests have all the characteristics of "wicked problems" that are complex, tricky and thorny. Decades of sweeping changes that have taken place worldwide at various levels have resulted in the emergence of "metaforestry" which transcends the field of conventional forestry in response to the need to deal with ulterior and more fundamental problems concerning the forest. Being an overarching objective of metaforestry, sustainable forest management calls for a new line of thinking to promote collaboration in international forums concerning global forest policy. Key words: adaptive management, criteria and indicators, ecosystem, global forest policy, sustainable forest management

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Forest policy goals in Poland in light of the current forestry aims in Europe Part 2. Forest policy priorities in Europe

Forest Research Papers ◽

10.2478/frp-2018-0018 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 79 (2) ◽

pp. 169-179

Author(s):

Adam Kaliszewski

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Forest Management ◽

Policy Development ◽

Sustainable Forest Management ◽

Forest Policy ◽

The European Union ◽

Policy Goals ◽

Almost All ◽

Council Of Ministers

Abstract The aim of the paper was to evaluate the priorities set for policy-making in forestry formulated under the Forest Europe process and in programmes, policies, strategies and legal acts of the European Union after 1997, which is also the year when the Polish ‘National Forest Policy’ was adopted by the Council of Ministers. During the last two decades, rapid policy development has been occurring Europe-wide. Forest policy goals defined within the Forest Europe process have also been reflected in EU’s strategic documents and legal acts and both processes are complementary as well as influencing each other. Forest policy priorities after 1997 cover all three major aspects of sustainable forest management (SFM): ecological, economic and social. However, the main emphasis has been put on economic and social aspects of SFM. The key priorities defined in numerous Forest Europe and EU documents are the following: enhancing the role of forests and forest management in mitigating climate change including the promotion of production and wide use of wood; adapting forests to climate change and changing environmental conditions; conserving, protecting and enhancing forest biodiversity; enhancing the role of forests and forest management in rural development; fostering coordination and cross-sectoral cooperation within forestry. The need for enhancing forest research has been pointed out in almost all analysed Forest Europe commitments as well as in numerous EU documents.

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Perspectives of four stakeholder groups about the participation of female forest landowners in forest management in Georgia, United States

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0256654 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (8) ◽

pp. e0256654

Author(s):

Jacqueline Miner ◽

Puneet Dwivedi ◽

Robert Izlar ◽

Danielle Atkins ◽

Parag Kadam

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Forest Management ◽

Policy Development ◽

Sustainable Forest Management ◽

Forest Policy ◽

The United States ◽

Future Generations ◽

Educational Outreach ◽

Forest Landowners ◽

Stakeholder Groups

As the number of female forest landowners (FFLs) in the United States continues to rise, there is an increasing need to understand the perceptions of stakeholder groups about opportunities and challenges faced by FFLs in the context of sustainable forestland management. This study utilizes the technique of SWOT-AHP (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Treats—Analytical Hierarchy Process) to understand the perceptions of four stakeholder groups (FFLs, private foresters, government representatives, and non-profits) in Georgia–a significant forestry state located in the Southern United States. Sixteen factors (four under each SWOT category) were selected through a comprehensive literature review and detailed interviews with individuals from the identified stakeholder groups. A survey was created using these factors that asked stakeholders to compare them in their respective SWOT categories. An additional survey was created for each stakeholder group where survey participants compared the highest-ranking factors in each SWOT category. We found that all stakeholder groups prioritized weaknesses over the other SWOT categories. Results showed a significant need for relevant educational outreach programs that cater specifically to FFLs. Additionally, researchers found a need to promote the interest of future generations in forestland management as all stakeholder groups felt that limited interest from future generations was the most important threat. This study will directly feed into regional, national, and international attempts to increase the participation of minority family forest landowners in sustainable forest management through integrated forest policy development.

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