Welcome to Economic Aspects of Forest Management on Public Lands
Economic Aspects of Forest Management on Public Lands (Economics
for short) at the Missoula Forestry Sciences Laboratory is a client-oriented
research and development group. We focus on issues having to do
with forest management and decision-making, and the role that economics
plays in that decision making. Local economies are affected by work
the Forest Service does (or does not do). Forest Service managers
need to make forest management decisions based on the best available
information; this information includes the effects of proposals
on local economies and the level of economic efficiency of the proposal
(for internal budget considerations, among others.). Our work includes
developing software, databases, and other tools for decision-making
at many levels, from project-level planning to policy development.
We often field requests for particular kinds of information and
analysis; for example, a recent study of the relationship between
expected tax revenues and Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT). Another
recently developed model uses current conditions and recent data
to predict the expected expenditure on fire suppression over the
course of the fire season.
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