Daowei Zhang is George W. Peake Professor of forest economics and policy and associate dean of research in the College of Forestry, Wildlife, and Environment at Auburn University in Alabama. He worked at the Ministry of Forestry and China Development Bank and served as a senior forestry officer and team leader for climate change and resilience at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Among his publications are From Backwoods to Boardrooms: The Rise of Institutional Investment in Timberland and The Softwood Lumber War: Politics, Economics, and the Long U.S.-Canadian Trade Dispute. Peter H. Pearse is a professor emerit in the Faculty of Forestry at the University of British Columbia and is a registered professional forester (retired). He also served as a board member for Alcoa and is a member of the Order of Canada.

Forewords / Peter Deegen and Michael Jacobson
Preface
Conversion Factors

PART 1 - Markets, Government, and Forest Investment Analysis

1 Forestry's Economic Perspective
Forestry from an Economic Viewpoint
Basic Economic Questions
Mixed Capitalism and the Role of Government
Economic Objectives: Efficiency and Equity
Forests as Economic Resources
Why Forest Economics?
Economic and Financial Decision Making

2 Market Economies and the Government
Economic Efficiency and Opportunity Costs
The Theory of Production
Allocating Inputs Among Alternative Uses
An Example
Comsumer Theory
Supply, Demand, and Price Equilibrium
Market Failures and Externalities in Forestry
Government Intervention and Policy Failure

3 Forest Investment Analysis and Valuation
Time and the Role of Interest
Compounding, Discounting, and Present Values
Criteria for Investment Decisions
Risk and Uncertainty
Integrating Economics with Silviculture
Valuing Pre-Merchantable Timber
Taxes and Social Considerations

PART 2 - The Forest Sector: Land Timber, and Non-Timber Forest Values

4 Timber Supply, Demand, and Pricing
The Forest Products Sector
Forest Products Supply and Demand
The Demand for Timber
Timber Supply
Long-Run Wood Supply Projections
Determinants of Stumpage Prices
Price Distortions

5 Non-Timber Forest Values
Priced Non-Timber Forest Values
Unpriced Values: A Problem of Measurement
Consumer Surplus as a Measure of Value
Evaluating Unpriced Recreation
Other Considerations in Valuing Recreational Resources
Externalities, Intrinsic Value, and Other Complications

6 Land Allocation and Multiple Use
Land Rent and Land Value
Intensity of Land Use
Extensive Margin of Land Use
Allocation among Uses
Combinations of Uses
Practical Difficulties
An Illustration: Payments for Environmental Services on Private Lands

PART 3 - The Economics of Forest Management

7 The Optimal Forest Rotation
Optimal Rotation in Discrete Format
Optimal Rotation Age in Continuous Format
Cutting Cycle for an Uneven-Aged Stand
Comparisons with Other Rotation Criteria
Other Impacts on the Optimal Rotation
Hartman Rotation Age

8 Forest Management Planning, Regulating Harvests over Time, and Wildfire Economics
The Stand and the Forest
Economics of Forest Management Planning: Maximizing Forest Asset Value
Regulating Forest Harvest over Time: Market Solutions and Limitations
The Regulated Forest
Transition to a Normal Forest
Sustained Yield Rationale and Critique
Timber Harvests over Time in the Absence of Sustained Yield Policy: Market as a Regulator
Forest Health Economics: The Case of Wildfire Management

9 Long-Term Trends in the Forest Sector and Silvicultural Investment
Long-Term Trends in the Forest Sector
A Conceptual Model for Silvicultural Investment
Factors Influencing Silvicultural Investment on Private Lands
Silvicultural Investment on Public Lands
Planted Forest Development in the Southern United States

PART 4 - Economics of Forest Policy and Forestland Investments

10 Property Rights
Property Rights, Property Value, and Economic Efficiency
Evolution of Forest Property Rights
Dimensions of Property and Their Economic Implications
Common Forms of Forest Tenure
Economic Issues of Tenure Systems
Two Examples
Byond the Binary of Private and Public Ownership

11 Forest Taxes and Other Charges
Characteristics of Forest Charges
Property Taxes
Levies on Harvests or Timber to Be Har