Interest in biomass energy resources from forests, farms and other sources has been rapidly increasing in recent years because of growing concern with reducing carbon dioxide emissions and developing alternatives to increasingly scarce, expensive and insecure oil supplies. The uniqueness of this book is its coverage of biomass energy markets in the US from an economic as well as technical perspective. Existing books typically focus on single markets or technical aspects at the exclusion of economics, and have given greater coverage to biomass energy outside the US. This edited collection has three main parts. Part One provides a historical overview of forest biomass energy use in the US; the major technologies, economics, market prospects, and policies. Part Two presents forest biomass energy assessments, including life cycle and sustainability perspectives, and Part Three includes five sets of regional case studies. After reviewing the history of wood energy use in the US and technology options, the book shows that forests could displace sixteen per cent of domestic transportation fuel use in 2030. Renewable Energy from Forest Resources in the United States includes a Foreword from Chris Flavin, President of the Worldwatch Institute.

For 75 years, few textbooks have served a topic as well as Introduction to Forests and Renewable Resources. Widely recognized for its comprehensive yet engaging coverage, this major revision provides an outstanding, up to date overview of management issues, conservation policies and practices related to forests and renewable resources, and an authoritative perspective on how these topics are evolving. New directions are covered, including: green certification of forest management and wood products; improved harvest practices in response to public concerns; carbon sequestration and ecological services as important forest yields; ecosystem restoration and resilience as management responds to concerns about global warming; and more. Well-illustrated with new examples, case studies and abundant photos, this eighth edition describes the importance and history of forests, evolution of policy, North American distribution of forests, and moves on to describe forest health strategies to combat insects, disease, damage from mammals, and fire. Ecological principles are explained as basis for forest management, with chapters on management of the associated resources of wildlife, watersheds and streams, range resources, outdoor recreation and wilderness. Market concerns and technology are embraced in chapters on economics, measurement and analysis, harvesting, and forest products. Concluding chapters describe management of forests and renewable resources by the federal government, by states, by private land owners, and in urban areas and communities. For forestry, natural resource, and environmental science students, involved citizens and resource users and professionals, this book is your reference and guide to forests and renewable resources.

The text provides literature surveys on relevant modeling issues and policy concerns. It demonstrates the application of a modeling system using a "base case" 50-year projection and a small set of scenarios. These illustrate, for example, the effects of changes in public harvest policies, variations in investments in silviculture, and globalization. It is aimed at policy makers, researchers and graduate students who are building or using forest sector models.

It is increasingly recognized that the economic value of forests is not merely the production of timber. Forests provide other key ecosystem services, such as being sinks for greenhouse gases, hotspots of biodiversity, tourism and recreation. They are also vitally important in preventing soil erosion and controlling water supplies, as well as providing non-timber forest products and supporting the livelihoods of many local people. This handbook provides a detailed, comprehensive and broad coverage of forest economics, including traditional forest economics of timber production, economics of environmental role of forests, and recent developments in forest economics. The chapters are grouped into six parts: fundamental topics in forest resource economics; economics of forest ecosystems; economics of forests, climate change, and bioenergy; economics of risk, uncertainty, and natural disturbances; economics of forest property rights and certification; and emerging issues and developments. Written by leading environmental, forest, and natural resource economists, the book represents a definitive reference volume for students of economics, environment, forestry and natural resource economics and management.

Strongly grounded in the scientific method and evidence, The Environment: Science, Issues, and Solutions presents an organized, accessible, building block approach that introduces the principles of ecology. This book examines the effects of technology use and the unprecedented economic growth and development that has tipped the natural balance of the environment, resulting in serious local, regional, and global environmental problems. This comprehensive text explores the need for interrelated long-term solutions for the prevention and mitigation of environmental problems.

During the second half of the twentieth century, the forest industry removed more than 300 billion cubic feet of timber from southern forests. Yet at the same time, partnerships between public and private entities improved the inventory, health, and productivity of this vast and resilient resource. A comprehensive and multilayered history, Forestry in the U.S. South explores the remarkable commercial and environmental gains made possible through the collaboration of industry, universities, and other agencies. This authoritative assessment starts by discussing the motives and practices of early lumber companies, which, having exhausted the forests of the Northeast by the turn of the twentieth century, aggressively began to harvest the virgin pine of the South, with production peaking by 1909. The rapidly declining supply of old-growth southern pine triggered a threat of timber famine and inspired efforts to regulate the industry. By mid-century, however, industrial forestry had its own profit incentive to replenish harvested timber. This set the stage for a unique alliance between public and private sectors, which conducted cooperative research on tree improvement, fertilization, seedling production, and other practices germane to sustainable forest management. By the close of the 1990s, concerns about an inadequate timber supply gave way to questions about how to utilize millions of acres of pine plantations approaching maturity. No longer concerned with the future supply of raw material and facing mounting global competition the U.S. pulp and paper industry consolidated, restructured, and sold nearly 20 million acres of forests to Timber Investment Management Organizations (TIMOs) and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), resulting in an entirely new dynamic for private forestry in the South. Incomparable in scope, Forestry in the U.S. South spotlights the people and organizations responsible for empowering individual forest owners across the region, tripling the production of pine stands and bolstering the livelihoods of thousands of men and women across the South.

The vast size of the United States and extensive variation of its climate, topography, and biota across different regions contribute to both the richness of the nation‘s natural heritage and the complexities involved in managing its resources. A follow-up to RFF‘s popular America‘s Renewable Resources (1990), Perspectives on Sustainable Resources in America updates readers about the current challenges involved in managing America‘s natural resources, especially in light of the increasing emphasis on sustainability and ecosystem approaches to management. Written to inform general audiences and students, as well as to engage the interest of experts, the book includes assessments by some of the nation‘s most renowned scholars in natural resource economics and policy. An introductory chapter critically examines the concept of sustainability as it has been developed in recent years and asks how the concept might apply to individual resource systems. It considers the interrelatedness of ecosystem, economic, and social sustainability; the paradigms of resource sufficiency and functional integrity; and the contrast between weak and strong sustainability. The chapters that follow examine America‘s experience with forests, water, agricultural soils, and wildlife. Highlighting the adaptability and resilience of resource systems, each chapter provides a description of the physical characteristics of the resource, a history of its use, a policy history, and a review of ongoing debates in management and policy. Perspectives on Sustainable Resources in America concludes with an innovative treatment of biodiversity as a natural resource. The chapter reviews the definitions of biodiversity, the ecological and economic meanings of biodiversity, and current efforts to preserve biodiversity, especially through regulatory approaches.