Thinking about the economics of genetic resource management for Canadianforestry

摘要

This paper reviews the rationale and approach to economic analysis of practices aimed at managing the genetic aspects of forests. Some forest genetics. like tree improvement, involve costs aimed at increasing wood production. Other "forest genetics" activities may be aimed at managing populations of both commercial and non-commercial values. Economic analysis is relevant to both categories but it can be misapplied and mis-interpreted. Good economic analysis should confront the notion of trade-offs head-on, whether assessing intensive silviculture or options to achieve the non-wood objectives so mired in current management. The paper provides a background on forest economics in both settings, an actual tree improvement example, and some conjecture on future directions in applied forest economics.