Industrial Landowners Research Articles

Experience with the selection method in pine stands in the southern United States, with implications for future application

Summary The selection method applied in shade-intolerant pine stands in the southern United States has been shown to be an effective method of uneven-aged silviculture, but it is becoming less frequently practiced for a variety of reasons. Economically, the high value of standing timber puts fully stocked uneven-aged pine stands at risk of liquidation if the timberland is sold. This is increasingly common on private lands in the southern United States, where forest industry landowners have been selling timberlands over the past two decades to timber investment management organizations and real estate investment trusts. Ecologically, the benefits of open woodland habitat restoration in southern pines are being optimized by use of prescribed burning, which is much more adaptable to even-aged silvicultural systems such as the shelterwood method than it is to the selection method. But uneven-aged silviculture will be important in the twenty-first century; its values centre around the ability of uneven-aged stands to resist and especially to recover from exogenous disturbance events, as well as the opportunity for frequent establishment of new regeneration cohorts under changing climatic conditions.

Evaluating forest management intensity: A comparison among major forest landowner types

As the global demand for timber expands and timber inventory in the western United States continuously declines, southern U.S. forests are becoming an increasingly important source of timber. Timberlands in the U.S. South are owned by a diverse group of landowners with varying objectives: industrial, timber investment management organizations (TIMOs), nonindustrial, and state forest landowners. Forest management intensity of these landowner groups was evaluated by looking at the forest management activities and expenditures of Mississippi forestland owners. Industrial landowners and TIMOs had similar management characteristics and managed their lands more intensively than the state and NIPF landowners. Industrial landowners and TIMOs invested more in intensive forestry activities and treated a significantly greater proportion of their timberlands. In contrast, the majority of NIPF expenditures consisted of fixed costs like property taxes. State ownerships reported minimal investment in intensive forestry activities. Intensive forest management was influenced by ownership size, ownership type, and proportion of timberland area in pine.

Economics of Intensively Managed Forest Plantations in the Pacific Northwest

Abstract Lower risks and higher returns favor investment in intensively managed forest plantations in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) for industrial landowners. Intensive forest plantation management is necessary if PNW industrial landowners are to compete effectively in world markets. However, not all landowner classes have the same set of management objectives, investment streams, and performance measures. For a variety of reasons, intensive forest plantation management may not be appropriate for some nonindustrial and public lands.

Forest Management Intensity: A Comparison of Timber Investment Management Organizations and Industrial Landowners in Mississippi

Abstract All timberland investment management organizations (TIMOs) and industrial landowners in Mississippi were surveyed during 1998 and 1999 to determine their annual forest management practices and related expenditures. The response rate was 65%, and respondents accounted for approximately 90% of the timberland owned by these two landowner groups. For analysis purposes, industrial landowners were separated into two categories: large (>10,000 ac) and small (<10,000 ac). Pine plantations represented 66% of TIMOs' timberland base compared to 55% for large industrial landowners and less than 50% for small industrial landowners. Over the 2 yr study period, TIMOs and large industrial landowners invested heavily in site preparation and planting as well as midrotation chemical release and fertilization. In contrast, small industrial landowners relied on natural regeneration to a much greater extent and conducted few, if any, midrotation treatments. As a group, TIMOs and industrial landowners spent approximately $20/ac annually on their Mississippi timberlands. Overhead represented slightly over 40% of this total, with silvicultural treatments accounting for the remainder. Property taxes represented the largest overhead expense. In total, these landowners spent $67 million in 1998 and $54 million in 1999 to maintain and manage their Mississippi timberlands. South. J. Appl. For. 27(2):83–91.

Research on forestry practices to sustain the Acadian Forest in Nova Scotia

Introduction In recent years the focus of applied scientific research efforts in Nova Scotia has shifted from determining the basis of improving and sustaining softwood timber supplies to establishing the science to manage the Acadian Forest on an ecosystem basis for all sustainable uses. This shift does not mean that sustaining timber supplies is less important, but that forestry practices to sustain the timber resource are implemented in ways that support the need to maintain the diversity of Nova Scotia’s forests for wilderness, recreation, tourism, wildlife, aesthetics, and bio-diversity of natural ecosystems. Research efforts that primarily focus on the applied science of managing the ecosystems of the Nova Scotian Acadian Forest are the priority of various organizations and companies within Nova Scotia. This article will focus mainly on applied research activities by the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Nova Forest Alliance (NFA), and the major industrial landowners in the province. Research efforts to improve ecologically based forestry practices can be characterised into three general program areas: (1) development of ecological planning tools for ecosystem management; (2) development of operational forest management systems for tolerant hardwood and softwood species, and (3) development of more ecologically based forest modelling tools for Crown, industrial and small private landbases in Nova Scotia. This article will attempt to provide a brief overview of research programs by DNR, NFA, and the forest industry as a group.

Industrial property, market initiative and planning policy

Industrial restructuring has led to increasing obsolescence of old industrial properties in many cities. Transformation of these properties to meet the requirements of modern industrial operations is becoming an imminent task for property managers and industrial landowners. This paper reviews the experience of the private sector in restructuring obsolete industrial properties in Hong Kong. In particular, we focus our discussions on a recent market initiative (composite industrial‐office property development in Hong Kong) as an innovative attempt to make better use of urban industrial space. We argue that this new property type has not been successful because of the institutional constraints imposed under the planning policy. It again confirms that the industrial property market is characterized by market imperfection, owing largely to government policies, which precludes a smooth market adjustment to respond positively to changing demand. This problem, if allowed to continue, will ultimately damage the competitiveness of the cities.

Regeneration Costs for Industrial Landowners Using Hand vs. Machine Planting

Abstract The cost of planting southern pine seedlings is influenced by intensity of site preparation, number of parcels of land included in the planting contract, site topography, whether the site is bedded, and type of planting method. Industrial foresters should carefully examine anticipated benefits before intensifying site preparation, especially before using bedding or specifying machine planting.