Robert J. Moulton

Costs of creating carbon sinks in the U.S.

Abstract New models of the dynamic patterns of carbon uptake by forest ecosystems allow improvements in the estimation of the costs of carbon sequestration in the U.S. The preliminary results of an effort to update an earlier study indicate that conversion of environmentally sensitive and economically marginal cropland and pastureland in the U.S. could offset as much as 25% of current U.S. emissions at costs of

Regulatory programs and private forestry: State government actions to direct the use and management of forest ecosystems

US 8–60 per short ton.

Public agencies and bureaus responsible for forest management and protection: an assessment of the fragmented institutional landscape of state governments in the United States

Implemented in the context of a long history of intense public debate, forestry practices applied on private forestland are regulated in some form by 38 states. State regulatory activities can involve many agencies implementing numerous regulatory laws or a single forestry agency administering a comprehensive regulatory program. Regulatory programs are designed to protect resources such as soils, water, wildlife, and scenic beauty. Program administration often involves rule promulgation, harvest plan reviews, coordination of interagency reviews, and pre‐ and postharvest on‐site inspections. Forest practice rules usually focus on reforestation, forest roads, harvest procedures, and wildlife habitat protection. Emerging regulatory trends include growth of state and local regulation, use of contingent regulations, specification of forest practice standards in law, collaborative program implementation, conflicting multigovern‐ment regulatory authority, inflexible rules limiting adoption of new technology, leg...

The physical risks of reforestation as a strategy to offset global climate change

Abstract Public environmental and natural resource agencies have become increasingly diverse in mission and organization. Although holistic approaches for sustaining the physical attribute of large forest ecosystems have been advocated, attention has yet to focus on complementary organizational landscapes composed of integrated and co-ordinated public agencies. Results of a 2000 assessment of state agency conditions in the USA indicate that state government agencies affecting forest conditions are dispersed over all sectors and levels of state government; a states lead forestry agency is often only a small piece in the puzzle of state agencies affecting forests; state agencies affecting forests engage primarily in forest resource use and management activities, yet some state agencies affect forest conditions by aggressively implementing responsibility for fisheries and wildlife, water pollutant management, and parks and recreation; consequences of fragmented state agency responsibility for forests are generally adverse, especially public confusion over agency roles and lack of integrated resource management; co-ordination among state agencies affecting forest conditions is modest and takes many forms; and the counterpart to state level agency diversity is the plethora of federal agencies that affect forest conditions, a situation that often deters state ability to integrate management of forests.

Evaluating state regulation of private forest practices: What accomplishments at what costs☆

Abstract Assessment of physical risks is important with respect to costs and carbon yields from tree planting. Plantation losses were estimated for the Southern U.S. Commercial timber harvests are the principal cause of losses. Excluding harvesting losses, the annual survival rate is 98.4 percent. Wildfire, insects, and inclement weather are not major factors; diseases are the leading cause of mortality, but affect only a small number of plantations.

Costs of sequestering carbon through tree planting and forest management in the United States

Abstract This paper summarizes research evaluating the cost and effectiveness of comprehensive state forest practice laws. These laws regulate forest management on private lands in seven of the United States with the goal of protecting a wide range of forest resources. Forest practice laws impose significant administrative costs on states and significant compliance costs on landowners and timber operators. Total state administration costs for 1984 are estimated at

Regulation of Private Forestry Practices by State Governments

10.1 million and total private sector compliance costs are estimated at

An assessment of state agencies that affect forests

120.5 million, for a total regulation cost of

State Forest Practice Regulatory Programs: An Approach to Implementing Ecosystem Management on Private Forest Lands in the United States

130.6 million. The resource protection effectiveness of state forest practice regulation is more difficult to quantify. However, a variety of indicators strongly suggest that regulation has led to significant improvements in forest resource conditions and has increased reforestation levels.