ABSTRACT
Public forests, private and industrial timberlands are factories that produce raw materials for a variety of commodities and services (Gregory 1987, Constanza et al. 1997). Raw materials include: logs for milling into lumber; woody material for paper-making; clean water for municipality water supplies; water for hydroelectric and geothermal power generation; wood waste products for co-generator electrical plants; floral materials (i.e., ferns, flowers, moss, etc.) for floral products; mushrooms, firewood and Christmas trees for commercial and domestic uses; Native American cultural and religious materials (i.e., bark, herbs, and other materials); and other raw organic materials. Non-organic commodities are coal, fossil fuels, landscaping materials (i.e., flagstones, cinder rock, etc.), metallic and non-metallic minerals, common variety gravel and sand, and other geological materials. Services that these factories provide comprise aquatic and terrestrial habitats; recreational areas for camping, hiking, vehicle trails and roads; hunting and fishing locations; and points of interest (e.g., archeological, panoramic, and historical sites, etc.). These commodities and services are components of what economists refer to as the total economic value.
