Economics of forestry

Length: approx. two pages 12 pt., single space.

Step 1: consists of identifying a forestry economics problem in New England, the US, or the world, example:

• Assessing the economic impact of an invasive species ? such as glossy buckthorn- in New Hampshire white pine forests;
• Economic evaluation of two forest wildfire control programs;
• Economic evaluation of the introduction of timber species in coffee or cocoa farms in Colombia or Costa Rica;
• The present or potential economic impact of invasive species (Asian Longhorn Beetle, Asian Bush Honeysuckle, Thousand Canker Disease) on a timber industry or private landowners;
• The potential economic impact of Endangered Species Act on the US timber industry with an application to the Northern Long-eared bat protection.
• Assessing the costs and benefits of a forest management practice.

Step 2: consists of finding and summarizing one or two example studies in extension or journal publications that you can follow when constructing your analysis. You can either follow the study to conduct your own analysis or follow it to replicate the results they obtain, using the authors? parameter values and data. Example studies include:

• http://extension.psu.edu/natural-resources/forests/finance;
• http://extension.missouri.edu/p/G5021.
• http://forestry.ces.ncsu.edu/forestry-economics-and-taxes.
• http://www.fs.fed.us/fmsc/ftp/fvs/docs/gtr/EconUserGuide.pdf.

Step 3: consists of identifying the right economic tools for your question (e.g., cost benefit analysis; optimization); make sure these are the same tools used in the example study you chose to follow.