Family Forest Owner Characteristics Shaped by Life Cycle, Cohort, and Period Effects

Butler, Sarah; Butler, Brett J.; Markowski-Lindsay, Marla

doi:10.1007/s11842-016-9333-2

Cited by 37 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…The majority (i.e., 87%) of SE US forest is now privately owned by families (Weir and Greis 2013), many of whom choose when and how to harvest based on personal values and financial considerations coupled with life events such as education or health needs (Butler et al 2017). Family owners generally have the goal of growing larger, higher value trees, and they frequently delay harvests until the price of saw timber looks favorable (Stewart 2015) or until life events instigate a need for cash (Butler et al 2017). Hunting and recreation leases also supplement incomes (Malmsheimer and Fernholz 2015) and may influence the type of harvest selected or avoided (e.g., clearcutting, controlled burning).…”

Section: Agents: Primary Facilitating and Constrainingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transatlantic wood pellet trade demonstrates telecoupled benefits

Parish¹,

Herzberger²,

Phifer³

et al. 2018

E&S

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ABSTRACT. European demand for renewable energy resources has led to rapidly increasing transatlantic exports of wood pellets from the southeastern United States (SE US) since 2009. Disagreements have arisen over the global greenhouse gas reductions associated with replacing coal with wood, and groups on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean have raised concerns that increasing biomass exports might negatively affect SE US forests and the ecosystem services they provide. We use the telecoupling framework to test assertions that the intended benefits of the wood pellet trade for Europe might be offset by negative consequences in the SE US. Through a review of current literature and available data sets, we characterize the observed and potential changes in the environmental, social, and economic components of the sending and receiving regions to assess the overall sustainability of this renewable energy system. We conclude that the observed transatlantic wood pellet trade is an example of a mutually beneficial telecoupled system with the potential to provide environmental and socioeconomic benefits in both the SE US and Europe despite some negative effects on the coal industry. We recommend continued monitoring of this telecoupled system to quantify the environmental, social, and economic interactions and effects in the sending, receiving, and spillover systems over time so that evidence-based policy decisions can be made with regard to the sustainability of this renewable energy pathway.

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Section: Agents: Primary Facilitating and Constrainingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transatlantic wood pellet trade demonstrates telecoupled benefits

Parish¹,

Herzberger²,

Phifer³

et al. 2018

E&S

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show abstract

“…Larger diameter trees take more time to grow but offer higher financial returns, especially if landowners begin thinning the stands when trees are 10–15 years old . Harvest decisions by family landowners are often based on the owner's life circumstances (e.g., the need to raise money for a child's college tuition), market conditions (e.g., a sudden housing market boom), or both …”

Section: Current Conditionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…landowners are often based on the owner's life circumstances (e.g., the need to raise money for a child's college tuition), market conditions (e.g., a sudden housing market boom), or both. 13 Confusion has been generated by terminology used for harvest, thinning, and whole trees. Any removal of standing timber for sale is considered a harvest.…”

Section: Current Conditionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This article presents an overview of the interactions among SE US forest landscapes and management for wood pellet production developed by researchers from the locale. We synthesize a literature review, on‐the‐ground observations, and discussions with a variety of stakeholders . An examination of recent peer‐reviewed and gray literature reveals that a variety of definitions for terminology has been used to discuss the potential effects of the export wood pellet trade, and diverse interpretations of the words used to describe feedstock and system characteristics further confound an already complex issue.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We synthesize a literature review, on-theground observations, and discussions with a variety of stakeholders. [12][13][14][15][16] An examination of recent peerreviewed and gray literature reveals that a variety of definitions for terminology has been used to discuss the potential effects of the export wood pellet trade, and diverse interpretations of the words used to describe feedstock and system characteristics further confound an already complex issue. Therefore, this article carefully defines key terms (e.g., baseline, counterfactual, thinning) and discusses current, historical, and potential future SE US forest landscape conditions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Reference scenarios for evaluating wood pellet production in the Southeastern United States

Parish

Dale

Kline

et al. 2017

WIREs Energy & Environment

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Wood pellet exports from the Southeastern United States (SE US) to Europe have been increasing in response to European Union member state policies to displace coal with renewable biomass for electricity generation. An understanding of the interactions among SE US forest markets, forest management, and forest ecosystem services is required to quantify the effects of pellet production compared to what would be expected under a reference case or ‘counterfactual scenario’ without pellet production. Inconsistent methods to define and justify the counterfactual scenario result in conflicting estimates and large uncertainties about the impacts of pellet production on SE US forests. Guidelines to support more consistent and transparent counterfactual scenarios are proposed. The guidelines include identifying major influences on current SE US forest conditions, developing potential futures that clearly document underlying assumptions and associated uncertainties, identifying the most likely alternative feedstock fates, and estimating the effects of no pellet demand on future forest conditions. The guidelines can help modelers to more accurately reflect the past and current forest dynamics and to consider the implications for SE US forest landscapes of future scenarios with and without pellet production. WIREs Energy Environ 2017, 6:e259. doi: 10.1002/wene.259 This article is categorized under: Bioenergy > Climate and Environment Energy and Climate > Climate and Environment Energy and Development > Climate and Environment

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Modeling the impacts of wood pellet demand on forest dynamics in southeastern United States

Duden

Verweij

Junginger

et al. 2017

Biofuels Bioprod Bioref

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The export of wood pellets from the southeastern United States (USA) has grown significantly in recent years, following rising demand from Europe. Increased wood pellet demand could lead to spatially variable changes in timberland management and area in the USA. This study presents an assessment of the impacts of increasing wood pellet demand (an additional 11.6 Mt by 2030) on land‐use dynamics, taking into account developments in other wood product markets as well as expected changes in other land uses. An economic model for the forest sector of the southeastern USA (SRTS) was linked to a land‐use change model (PLUC) to identify potential locations of land‐use change following scenarios of demand for pellets and other wood products. Projections show that in the absence of additional demand for wood pellets, natural timberland area is projected to decline by 450–15 000 km2 by 2030, mainly through urbanization and pine plantation establishment. Under the high wood pellet demand scenario, more (2000–7500 km2) natural timberland area is retained and more (8000–20 000 km2) pine plantation is established. Shifts from natural timberland to pine plantation occur predominantly in the Atlantic coastal region. Future work will assess the impact of projected transitions in natural timberland and pine plantations on biodiversity and carbon storage. This modeling framework can be applied for multiple scenarios and land‐use projections to identify locations of timberland area changes for the whole southeastern USA, thereby informing the debate about potential impacts of wood pellet demand on land‐use dynamics and environmental services. © 2017 The Authors. Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining published by Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Family Forest Owner Characteristics Shaped by Life Cycle, Cohort, and Period Effects

Cited by 37 publications

References 28 publications

Transatlantic wood pellet trade demonstrates telecoupled benefits

Transatlantic wood pellet trade demonstrates telecoupled benefits

Reference scenarios for evaluating wood pellet production in the Southeastern United States

Modeling the impacts of wood pellet demand on forest dynamics in southeastern United States

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