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Harvard Forest Symposium Abstract 2015

  • Title: Timber harvesting behavior in Massachusetts: does price matter to private landowners?
  • Primary Author: David Kittredge (UMASS Amherst)
  • Additional Authors: Jonathan Thompson (Harvard Forest)
  • Abstract:

    Non-industrial private forest is the dominant ownership type in the eastern United States. Most of these private owners own their land for non-consumptive, appreciative values and have little interest in the generation of timber revenue. We studied timber harvesting in Massachusetts for a 20-year period and compared the frequency and volume of harvests for five commercial species on private lands, to species-specific stumpage prices reported on a quarterly basis. We report a consistent effect for red oak, whereby the volume harvested and number of harvest events are Granger caused by stumpage price, west of the Connecticut River. This effect is absent for eastern Massachusetts, and also not apparent consistently for other species. Results suggest that under some circumstances, private landowner harvest decisions are influenced by stumpage price.

  • Research Category: Conservation and Management