Can forestry compete with manufacturing and agriculture for scarce capital or is investment in forestry attractive only when non-economic considerations--for example, the social desirability of forestry investments--are taken into account? Addressing this question, the contributors to this book assess the market for forestry products in the short- and long-term future; examine the competition between agriculture, cities, and forestry for use of land; identify strategies that private, industrial, and public investors might adopt; and look at the effects of government policies on private investors.

Common stock. Corporate bonds. Stock mutual funds. Call and put options. Commercial and residential real estate. Municipal bonds. These and others are the alternatives many individual and institutional investors consider when constructing their investment portfolios. This is the first book to investigate how another investment alternative--timberland--can fit into the portfolios of individuals and such institutions as pension funds. Timberland supplies the basic raw material for a critical global industry--forest products. Timber can be managed economically as a renewable crop on hundreds of millions of acres in the United States. Given the forces supporting conservation of forests in their natural state on many public and some private lands in the Unites States and other nations, there is increasing pressure on the remaining privately owned forests to supply the needed timber output. This represents an opportunity for patient, long-term investors. Using insights and graphic examples supplied by experienced institutional investors, professional foresters, forestry and financial researchers, and others, the authors address such questions as the following: How do timberland's investment characteristics compare to those associated with other portfolio alternatives? In addition to direct investments in forests, in what other ways can investors participate in the timberland market? Can the addition of timberland to some investors' diversified portfolios improve overall performance? What personal financial planning goals can be served by timberland? What acquisition, forest management, and sale strategies can be adopted by individual and institutional investors so that objectives are better achieved? In the course of addressing such questions, the authors attempt to bridge the communications gap between the investment and forestry communities. The authors provide valuable perspectives not only for individual and institutional investors, but also for personal financial advisors; forestry practitioners, policymakers and researchers; and students of forestry, real estate, and investments.

Forestland investment has surged in the past few decades as a result of land ownership change in the forestry industry. Timberland investment and management organizations and real estate investment trusts have bought up land and resources which were divested by vertically integrated forest products companies. This book provides seminal coverage of this seismic shift in the industry exploring the philosophy, driving factors, valuation, theory, research, implementation, practice, and effects of forestland investment. Across 15 chapters the book reviews the history of forestland investment; discusses the optimal forest rotation; explains timberland appraisal; examines the return drivers of forestland; analyses timberland index construction methods and results; prices timberland assets; reviews financial and real options; investigates real option values in forestland management; evaluates timber harvest contracts; examines new opportunities in the emerging woody bioenergy market; and eventually offers prospects on forestland investment in the future. It also discusses how forest carbon can be used as a natural resource-based climate solution. This book is essential reading for forestry business students and scholars, as well as practitioners and policy makers in the industry.

Positive Impact Forestry is a primer for private woodland owners and their managers on managing their land and forests to protect both ecological and economic vitality. Moving beyond the concept of "low impact forestry," Thom McEvoy brings together the latest scientific understanding and insights to describe an approach to managing forests that meets the needs of landowners while at the same time maintaining the integrity of forest ecosystems. "Positive impact forestry" emphasizes forestry's potential to achieve sustainable benefits both now and into the future, with long-term investment superseding short-term gain, and the needs of families—especially future generations—exceeding those of individuals. Thom McEvoy offers a thorough discussion of silvicultural basics, synthesizing and explaining the current state of forestry science on topics such as forest soils, tree roots, form and function in trees, and the effects of different harvesting methods on trees, soil organisms, and sites. He also offers invaluable advice on financial, legal, and management issues, ranging from finding the right forestry professionals to managing for products other than timber to passing forest lands and management legacies on to future generations. Positive Impact Forestry helps readers understand the impacts of deliberate human activities on forests and offers viable strategies that provide benefits without damaging ecosystems. It speaks directly to private forest owners and their advisers and represents an innovative guide for anyone concerned with protecting forest ecosystems, timber production, land management, and the long-term health of forests. Named the "Best Forestry Book for 2004" by the National Woodlands Owners Association.