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An Economic analysis of even-and uneven-aged management in bottonland hardwood forests of the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley

Informally Refereed

Abstract

A challenge for managers of bottomland hardwood forests is the lack of information about economic tradeoffs among different management approaches. This study evaluated economic tradeoffs, in terms of timber revenue, between even- and uneven-aged management approaches in four common bottomland hardwood forest types in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley (LMAV). Even and uneven-aged management scenarios were simulated using the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service Forest Vegetation Simulator. Data from 107 stands, representing a wide-range of initial conditions, were acquired from the Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program. Timber volume outputs under the different scenarios were valued using regional timber price data and evaluated using net present value and equivalent annual annuity measures. As expected, even-aged management generally produced higher timber revenue, but the tradeoff differed among forest types and initial conditions. The magnitude of the tradeoff increased as average diameter increased and was larger for oak-dominated stands. These findings provide guidance to managers and landowners about economic tradeoffs associated with alternative management approaches in common forest types of the LMAV.

Parent Publication

Citation

Nepal, Sunil; Frey, Brent R.; Henderson, James E.; Roberts, Scott D.; Grebner, Donald L. 2018. An Economic analysis of even-and uneven-aged management in bottonland hardwood forests of the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley. In: Kirschman, Julia E., comp. 2018. Proceedings of the 19th biennial southern silvicultural research conference. e-General Technical Report SRS- 234. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Southern Research Station. 444 p (pages 198-206) 9 p.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch/57310