Managing Access to Nontimber Forest Products

Abstract

Nontimber forest products (NTFP) have received increasing attention from harvesters, forest managers, researchers, and the public in the 1990s. Nontimber forest products, referred to as special forest products by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, include floral greens, boughs, craft materials, wild edibles, medicinals, transplants, and other vegetative materials. Increased interest in NTFP is reflected in many publications, including two books on NTFP in the United States (Emery and McLain 2001, Jones et al. 2002). Several authors have described wild edible mushroom management in the Pacific Northwest (e.g., Liegel 1998, Pilz and Molina 1998, Pilz et al. 1999). Economic values for NTFP are not well known, but some research has explored prices and economic valuation methods for various species harvested in the Pacific Northwest (western Oregon and Washington, coastal British Columbia, and southeastern Alaska) (e.g., Blatner and Alexander 1998, Pilz et al. 1998, Alexander et al. 2002). Issues about NTFP harvest and sustainability are addressed in the U.S. National Report on Sustainable Forests (USDA FS 2003) in response to an international set of forest sustainability indicators and criteria referred to as the Montreal Process. Although forest management in the United States has not focused on the production of NTFP, they are abundant in forest ecosystems, and NTFP harvest is an important activity to many people.