Optimal Harvest Decision Considering Carbon Stored in Forest and Wood Products, and Associated Fossil Fuel Carbon Emissions

Abstract

In developing incentives and protocols to reduce carbon emissions and increase carbon sequestration, one important omission stands out. Policy makers have ignored or minimized the importance of carbon storage in wood products and the associated secondary emis- sions. In this paper, I present the results from a discrete dynamic pro- gramming model used to determine the optimal harvest decision for a forest stand that provides benefits from timber harvest, carbon se- questered in forest and carbon storage in wood products. This study is distinguishable from previous studies because it considers vary- ing levels of starting dead organic matter (DOM) and wood product stocks. This is important because it allows one to establish a thresh- old level for determining if a landowner is better o!participating in the type of carbon market considered in this study. The results of the study suggest that the optimal decision to harvest is indepen- dent on the carbon stocks in the wood product pool but significantly a!ects economic returns to carbon management. The results also in- dicate that economic returns decrease with increasing initial levels of