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jobs?</title></head><body>
<div><font face="Verdana">Forest Policy and Economics Volume 74,
January 2017, Pages 20-29<br>
<br>
The potential rural development impacts of utilizing non-merchantable
forest biomass<br>
Mindy S. Crandall et al<br>
<br>
Highlights<br>
*A market model was used to assess the potential for forestry to
impact rural communities.<br>
*High prices and low costs were necessary to stimulate rural
development through biomass use.<br>
*Policies such as establishment subsidies encouraged some additional
development.<br>
*Increases in federal biomass had little effect on establishment in
most locations.<br>
<br>
Keywords<br>
Rural communities; Market model; Public lands; Forest management<br>
<br>
Abstract<br>
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1389934116304075</font
><br>
<font face="Verdana"></font></div>
<div><font face="Verdana">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
ove</font>rall feasibility or the location of depot establishment
under scenarios of increased federal harvest.<br>
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<div><font size="-1" color="#000000"><br>
<font face="Verdana">"The people heard it,
and approved the doctrine, and
immediately practiced the
contrary."</font></font></div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="-1" color="#000000"> </font></div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="-1" color="#000000">Benjamin
Franklin, The Way to Wealth</font></div>
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