Open Collections

A systematic approach to distributing public investment to increase timber supplies in British Columbia

University of British Columbia

Within the recently introduced timber supply policy in British Columbia there is an emphasis on at least maintaining short-term harvest rates. This imposes constraints on the type of investments that need to be undertaken. A system has been devised that will identify and characterize the contribution of proposed investments to public timber supply goals. A stand can be harvested without financial loss only when the mill-gate value of the stand volume exceeds, or just balances, the costs of extraction and delivery to the mill. The stumpage appraisal system of the Forest Service can be. used to estimate. minimum average stem volumes for operability over a wide range of stand and accessibility conditions. Strategic timber supply analysis can provide a time-frame within which the benefits of investment in silviculture must be realized to ensure continuity of supply. This time-frame, in combination with the operability-accessibility relationships, is used to erect zones for investment within the forest estate. Within any zone, at a given radius from the mill, all stands will have similar characteristics for operability. Stands unlikely to reach these characteristics within the time-frame are candidates for investment. Among candidate stands there will be a great variability in the prospective efficiency of investment. An investment efficiency ratio, based on physical units of production, is provided to characterize potential investments. Rules for its use as a criterion within the field of public forest management have been developed. With this criterion annual activity budgets can be assembled and operational plans instituted. The proposed system is offered as a replacement for the existing process by which stand treatment guidelines are drawn up and investments undertaken by the provincial Forest Service. It provides an explicit link between timber supply policy and silvicultural planning currently lacking. Its consistent use will lead to a more rational distribution of resources within the framework of supply planning. It is expected that the system will eventually be superseded by improvements in the data base used in strategic supply planning.

Text

2010-03-13

For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/21867

Forestry

University of British Columbia

Graduate