[MCN] Is forest biomass a hot new opportunity for rural jobs?

[Jeff Juel]

Lance, surely you've come upon some science that examines the dark side 
of this equation--the environmental costs of removing biomass from 
forests and burning them.

Jeff Juel


On 12/28/2016 11:24 AM, Lance Olsen via Missoula-Community-News wrote:
> Is forest biomass a hot new opportunity for rural jobs?
> Forest Policy and Economics  Volume 74, January 2017, Pages 20-29
>
> The potential rural development impacts of utilizing non-merchantable 
> forest biomass
> Mindy S. Crandall et al
>
> Highlights
> *A market model was used to assess the potential for forestry to 
> impact rural communities.
> *High prices and low costs were necessary to stimulate rural 
> development through biomass use.
> *Policies such as establishment subsidies encouraged some additional 
> development.
> *Increases in federal biomass had little effect on establishment in 
> most locations.
>
> Keywords
> Rural communities; Market model; Public lands; Forest management
>
> Abstract
> http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1389934116304075
> The development of a market for currently non-merchantable forest 
> material, such as harvest residues or small diameter trees, has been 
> suggested as a possible win-win solution that could: (i) provide a 
> material that can be processed in rural communities reeling from 
> changes in the forest products industry and policy environment; (ii) 
> capture more value from timber management activities; and (iii) 
> provide a financial incentive for treatments to reduce wildfire risk 
> or restore forest stands. Modeling the supply of this material with 
> spatially-explicit potential demand locations allows for a realistic 
> analysis of the feasibility of such a market to stimulate rural 
> development. We model multiple scenarios for the utilization of 
> harvest residues within the current forest products market in western 
> Oregon. Sensitivity analysis explored the effects of cost of the 
> depots on feasibility, including policy designed to support depot 
> establishment through subsidies. Scenarios were also used to assess 
> the effects of increases in federal harvest activities. Results 
> suggest that with relatively high biomass prices, there is some 
> potential for investment in depots to aid rural communities in western 
> Oregon, but there is little change in either the overall feasibility 
> or the location of depot establishment under scenarios of increased 
> federal harvest.
>
> -- 
> =---------------------------------------------------------------===--------------------------------------------------------------------=
>
> "The people heard it, and approved the doctrine, and immediately 
> practiced the contrary."
> 

> Benjamin Franklin, The Way to Wealth
>
>
> -----------------
> Missoula Community News: An announcement list for the progressive, alternative and nonprofit communities in Missoula and Western Montana.
>
> List Info:
>     http://bigskynet.org/mailman/listinfo/missoula-community-news_bigskynet.org
> List-Post:
>     mailto:missoula-community-news at bigskynet.org
> List-Help:
>     mailto:missoula-community-news-request at bigskynet.org?subject=help
> List-Unsubscribe:
>     http://bigskynet.org/mailman/listinfo/missoula-community-news_bigskynet.org
>     mailto:missoula-community-news-request at bigskynet.org?subject=unsubscribe
> List-Subscribe:
>     http://bigskynet.org/mailman/listinfo/missoula-community-news_bigskynet.org
>     mailto:missoula-community-news-request at bigskynet.org?subject=subscribe
> Want a human?
>     mailto:listadmin at wildrockies.org

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://bigskynet.org/pipermail/missoula-community-news_bigskynet.org/attachments/20161228/5b73ea0f/attachment-0003.html>