Introduction

The economics of forestry contains a number of discrete and fundamental problems. A list of just those most common to forest management textbooks would include the long-term sufficiency of timber supply, the optimal path to an even flow of annual timber harvests from forests that were mature and natural when initially exploited but which are being replaced with managed stands, the different characteristic behaviors of various classes of forest landowners, forest regulation by government agencies to satisfy public objectives, and the impacts of both public and private forest-based resource activities on ecosystems and local human communities.