Abstract
Political pressures exist to increase the economic efficiency of timber management and production on the national forests managed by the USDA Forest Service. There is growing belief both outside and within the Forest Service that current levels of timber production, and most particularly uneconomic timber production, should be reduced. Many argue that eliminating uneconomic timber management programs will both save money and reduce environmental degradation. This article traces the political evolution of the focus on economic efficiency in timber production and explores the political-institutional factors that are shaping the current policy debate. The below-cost issue is less about economic efficiency than it is about political advantage and alternative political visions of the societal role of the nation's national forests now and in the future.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Literature Cited
Alston, R. M. 1983. The individual vs. the public interest: Political ideology and national forest policy. Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado, 250 pp.
Baden, J. 1991. Spare that tree!Forbes December 9:229–233.
Barlow, T. J., G. E. Helfand, and T. B. Stoel. 1980. Giving away the national forests: An analysis of US Forest Service timber sales below cost. Natural Resources Defense Council, Washington, DC.
Beuter, J. H. 1990. An overview of the below-cost timber sale issue. Technical Bulletin 9002, American Forest Resource Alliance, Washington, DC, 30 pp.
Chappelle, D. E. 1990. Resource pricing and valuation guidelines for the 1990 RPA Program: A critical review. Technical Bulletin TB 901, American Forest Resource Alliance, Washington, DC, 25 pp.
Clawson, M. 1976. The national forests.Science 191(4228):762–767.
Forrester, S. 1984. Forest Service at a loss.Sierra 69(6):21–25.
Gilbert, B. 1990 Earth day plus 20, and counting.Smithsonian 21(1):47–55.
Kessler, W. B. 1991. Science challenges of New Perspectives. Paper presented to the New Perspectives National Conference: Sustaining Ecological Systems, December 3–5, Roanoke, Virginia.
Krutilla, J., and C. Cicchetti. 1972. Evaluating benefits of environmental resources with special application to Hell's Canyon.Natural Resources Journal 12(1):1–29.
O'Toole, R. 1988. Reforming the Forest Service. Island Press, Washington, DC, 247 pp.
Peters, T. 1989. Damn bureaucrats: Deep down we don't want government to be efficient. Here's why we tie its hands.Washingtonian November:89–95
Pinchot, G., 1947. Breaking new ground. Island Press, Washington, DC, 522 pp.
Sample, V. A. 1984. Below-cost timber sales and the National Forests. The Wilderness Society, Washington, DC, 17 p. + app.
Schuster, E. G., and J. G. Jones. 1985. Below-cost timber sales: Analysis of a forest policy issue. General Technical Report INT-183. USDA Forest Service Intermountain Research Station, Ogden, Utah, 17 pp.
Schuster, E. G., and J. G. Jones. 1989. TSPIRS: Meet the new kid on the block.Journal of Forestry 87(3):31–35.
Schuster, E. G., and Niccolucci, M. J. 1989. Separable costs of provisions for nontimber resources in Forest Service timber sales.Western Journal of Applied Forestry 4(4):119–124.
Schweitzer, D., F. Norbury, and G. Alward. 1990. Economic efficiency and National Forest planning. Pages 43–50in R. L. Johnson and G. V. Johnson (eds.), Economic valuation of natural resources: Issues, theory and applications. Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado.
Shepard, W. B. 1990. Seeing the forest for the trees: “New Perspectives” in the Forest Service.Renewable Resources Journal 8(2):8–11.
Short, C. B. 1989. Ronald Reagan and the public lands: America's conservation debate, 1979–1984. Texas A&M University Press, College Station, 178 pp.
Steen, H. K. 1976. The US Forest Service: A history. University of Washington Press, Seattle, 356 pp.
USDA Forest Service. 1969. Douglas-fir supply study: Alternative programs for increasing timber supplies from national forest lands. USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Forest Experiment Station, Portland, Oregon, 53 pp.
USDA Forest Service. 1986. Analysis of costs and revenues in the timber program of four national forests. USDA Forest Service, Timber Management and Land Management Planning Staffs, Washington DC, 6 chapters. variously paged.
USDA Forest Service. 1990. The Forest Service program for forest and rangeland resources: A long-term strategic plan. Summary recommended 1990 program. USDA Forest Service, Washington, DC, pp. 41.
USDA Forest Service. 1991a. National Forest System land and resource management planning: Advance notice of proposed rulemaking.Federal Register 56(32):6508–6538.
USDA Forest Service. 1991b. Timber sale program annual report: Fiscal year 1990. USDA Forest Service, Timber Management Staff, Washington, DC, 3 vols: National summary 33 pp; Forest level information 94 pp; State level information, 167 pp.
US General Accounting Office. 1984. Congress needs better information on Forest Service's below-cost timber sales. Report GAO/RCED-84-96. Washington, DC, 46 pp.
US General Accounting Office. 1990. Timber sales program: Issues surrounding the timber sales cost reporting system. Report GAO/AFMD-90-48BR. Washington, DC, 56 pp.
Wilkinson, C. F., and H. M. Anderson. 1987. Below-cost sales: Are they legal.Journal of Forestry 85(8):21–26.
Wolf, R. E. 1984. State by state estimates of situations where timber will be sold by the Forest Service at a loss or a profit. Report to the Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Appropriations for Interior and Related Agencies. Washington, DC, 22 pgs + attch.
Wolf, R. E. 1989. National forest timber sales and the legacy of Gifford Pinchot: Managing a forest and making it pay.University of Colorado Law Review 60:1037–1078.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cortner, H.J., Schweitzer, D.L. Below-cost timber sales and the political marketplace. Environmental Management 17, 7–14 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02393790
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02393790