Divestiture, Harvest Expansion and Economic Efficiency: The National Forests in the Early 1980s

The focus of this analysis is the divestiture of western public lands and future timber harvests. An assessment is made of the current demand, cost, and price situation for national forest timber. The author concludes that the current situation both nationally and in the northern Rockies is that timber management costs exceed timber management income before receipt sharing. Also, data indicate that the marginal costs of increasing the levels of harvest are rising. Several prospective ways of improving the managerial efficiency of national forest timber management are discussed.