10.07.2015 Views

Recovery Plan for the Northern Spotted Owl - DRAFT

Recovery Plan for the Northern Spotted Owl - DRAFT

Recovery Plan for the Northern Spotted Owl - DRAFT

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS
  • No tags were found...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

3. Economic Effects of <strong>Owl</strong> Habitat Protection.The dedication of substantial areas of federal <strong>for</strong>estland to provide owl habitatwill remove substantial amounts of land suitable <strong>for</strong> timber harvest from <strong>the</strong>federal timber base. What is <strong>the</strong> economic response and <strong>the</strong> effect on <strong>the</strong>various elements of <strong>the</strong> economy directly affected by this difference in <strong>the</strong>timber supply? In general, <strong>the</strong> following differences would be expected infuture timber markets:* The rate of federal timber harvest will be lower in future years than it wouldbe without owl habitat protection.* The rate of production from private lands will be somewhat higher.* The price of timber will be somewhat higher.WFederal revenues will be lower because of <strong>the</strong> <strong>for</strong>egone harvest, but higher on<strong>the</strong> remaining harvest because of <strong>the</strong> price increase.* Private timber profits will be higher because of higher production and highertimber prices.* Timber consumers, such as sawmills and plywood mills, will have lowerprofits because <strong>the</strong>y must pay higher timber prices without receiving more <strong>for</strong><strong>the</strong>ir lumber.To estimate <strong>the</strong> extent of <strong>the</strong>se effects, economists use <strong>the</strong> basic analyticalconcepts of supply and demand curves discussed earlier. Their application to<strong>the</strong> analysis of <strong>the</strong> effects of owl habitat protection is shown in Figure H.8.Without owl conservation measures, <strong>the</strong> total timber harvest would be Q 0 ., and<strong>the</strong> timber price would be PO. The federal harvest, QGid' is shown as if it were<strong>the</strong> lowest cost source of supply, having cost approximately equal to C.. Federal<strong>for</strong>ests have most of <strong>the</strong> remaining old-growth timber that has <strong>the</strong> lowestcost per unit in <strong>the</strong> timber resource base. It is assumed that <strong>the</strong> rate of federaltimber harvest would be lower by Q' because of <strong>the</strong> establishment of owlhabitat conservation areas. In Figure H.8, <strong>the</strong> effect of <strong>the</strong> lower federalharvest, is shown by a leftward shift in <strong>the</strong> timber supply curve that resultsfrom deletion of <strong>the</strong> segment of <strong>the</strong> original supply curve from <strong>the</strong> origin to Q'.E0P 1P 0Rate of timber harvest...... ~............ . ............ . ....... ... ..Figure H.8. Effects of removal of timberland on regional timber market565

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!