Logging firms, nonindustrial private forests, and forest parcelization: evidence of firm specialization and its impact on sustainable timber supply

Abstract

Increasing forest parcelization has raised concerns about tract-size economies and sustainable timber supply. We explored this issue by examining the logging sector and forest ownership in northern Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Using 2004 survey data, we found that 48% of logging firms demonstrated a near exclusive reliance on nonindustrial private forests (NIPFs). NIPF-dependent firms derived 87.5% of their stumpage from this ownership, whereas nondependent firms exhibited a significantly more diversified stumpage supply distributed among public (42.6%), industrial-corporate (33.3%), and NIPF (24.0%) sources. Additionally, NIPF-dependent firms operated on significantly fewer, smaller, and less intensely harvested timber sales, and they were more likely to harvest small tracts profitably. There were no significant differences in the forest products harvested or overall firm profitability. We found statistical evidence that NIPF-dependent and nondependent firms organize themselves differently: NIPF dependency was negatively correlated with total number of employees, timberland area in the firm's wood basket, and firm location and positively correlated with owner age. Results suggest the impacts of parcelization on the logging sector are minimal. NIPF-dependent firms appear to have structured themselves to operate profitably; however, it is unclear how continued parcelization might influence these firms and the sector as a whole.

Performance and cost of a new mini-forwarder for use in thinning operations

“…At the same time, the good access road network serving most new plantations may help to contain the extraction distance, thus favoring the introduction of mini-forwarders. The availability of such machinery may lead to the development of specialized firms catering to the thinning needs of small owners (Rickenbach and Steele 2006), with positive impacts on increased timber supply.…”

The effects of introducing modern technology on the financial, labour and energy performance of forest operations in the Italian Alps

“…This may be more difficult to arrange in Italy than in the Nordic countries, given the difficult terrain, the constraints of closeto-nature forestry and the prevalence of non industrial private forestry (NIPF). In fact, the small scale of most Italian logging firms is likely to reflect their dependence on NIPF sources (Rickenbach and Steele, 2006), and results into a limited investment capacity. Since mechanized harvesting technology is currently being introduced to Italy, it is important to understand if it can compete with traditional harvesting operations, and under what conditions.…”

Using real estate records to assess forest land parcelization and development: A Minnesota case study

“…Forest parcelization, the division of larger blocks of forest land into smaller blocks with multiple owners, has been shown to lead to a decrease in the economic viability of managing forests for wood products (Greene et al, 1997;Mehmood and Zhang, 2001), a decrease in interest in management and investment of forest management activities on the part of non-industrial private forest landowners (NIPF) (Straka et al, 1984;Romm et al, 1987;Rickenbach and Steele, 2006), as well as adverse impacts on wildlife (Brooks, 2003) and wildlife habitat (Theobold et al, 1997), water quality (Dillon et al, 1994;Hendry and Leggatt, 1982;Wear et al, 1998;LaPierre and Germain, 2005), ecosystem services (Groom et al, 1999), and outdoor recreation opportunities and access (Rickenbach and Gobster, 2003;King and Butler, 2005). Some researchers have hypothesized that parcelization, a land ownership measure, may, in turn, lead to fragmentation, a land cover measure, which might further affect the management and use of forest land for their many products and amenity values (Gobster and Rickenbach, 2004;Holdt et al, 2004;King and Butler, 2005;LaPierre and Germain, 2005;Germain et al, 2006;Kilgore and MacKay, 2007).…”