Government regulation of forestry practices on private forest land in the United States: An assessment of state government responsibilities and program performance

Abstract

In 2003, a comprehensive assessment of state government, forest practice regulatory programs in the United States was undertaken. Involved was an extensive review of the literature and information gathering from program administrators in all 50 states. The assessment determined that regulatory programs focus on a wide range of forestry practices applied to private forests; state agencies regulating forestry practices are numerous and responsible for substantial investment in forest practice regulatory programs; 15 state governments have especially prominent regulatory programs; and past evaluations of regulatory program performance have produced mixed results. Program administrators suggest regulatory program design and administration would benefit from research focused on identifying forestry sectors requiring regulatory attention; design of regulatory programs and means for evaluating their performance; equity and distributional consequences of regulatory program enforcement; and the design of information management systems for monitoring regulatory programs.