To address the scale mountain pine beetle (MPB) outbreak in British Columbia, salvage has become fully integrated with timber supply strategies. The objective of this thesis is to assess the economic impact of different salvage strategies depending on different attack levels, decay rates, and stakeholder discount rates. The study area is located in N.E. British Columbia where the MPB has not yet reached its peak and where susceptible to attack stands account for 40% of the area. Salvage strategies were modelled with a timber supply model (Woodstock) which uses a linear programming type II optimization approach. Performance of the model was assessed over a range of indicators such as NPV, profit, salvage proportion, species composition, inventory levels, and non-recoverable volume. Sensitivity analyses were conducted on harvest flow, discount rate, and ending inventory. The model was very sensitive to the intensity of attack and less sensitive to the decay level. The high level of attack resulted in large volume losses, mostly as un-salvaged inventory. Although allowable annual cut (AAC) uplifts have an economic benefit, they do not necessarily maximize the salvage of pine. Non-pine species are an important component of the salvage and these species are also essential for the future timber supply. If the objective is to ensure quality and quantity of the future forest, policies have to complement AAC uplifts by strongly encouraging the salvage of mainly pine-leading stands and management options that minimize the “by-catch” of non-pine species and minimize destruction of advanced regeneration during salvage. However, this has an opportunity cost for the private industry where the objective is to maximize profit. If the salvage strategy focuses on decreasing the impact on cash flows, achieving desirable ending inventory levels, avoiding salvage of stands after shelf-life, and reducing impact on non-attack species, then the current harvest level will likely lead to a mid-term timber supply fall-down. Using the fibre for bioenergy production is an alternative if managing for bioenergy can be integrated into harvest operations. However, unlike mill residues, the bioenergy supply has to fully account for harvest and transportation costs of dead wood to the mill.

To address the scale mountain pine beetle (MPB) outbreak in British Columbia, salvage has become fully integrated with timber supply strategies. The objective of this thesis is to assess the economic impact of different salvage strategies depending on different attack levels, decay rates, and stakeholder discount rates. The study area is located in N.E. British Columbia where the MPB has not yet reached its peak and where susceptible to attack stands account for 40% of the area. Salvage strategies were modelled with a timber supply model (Woodstock) which uses a linear programming type II optimization approach. Performance of the model was assessed over a range of indicators such as NPV, profit, salvage proportion, species composition, inventory levels, and non-recoverable volume. Sensitivity analyses were conducted on harvest flow, discount rate, and ending inventory. The model was very sensitive to the intensity of attack and less sensitive to the decay level. The high level of attack resulted in large volume losses, mostly as un-salvaged inventory. Although allowable annual cut (AAC) uplifts have an economic benefit, they do not necessarily maximize the salvage of pine. Non-pine species are an important component of the salvage and these species are also essential for the future timber supply. If the objective is to ensure quality and quantity of the future forest, policies have to complement AAC uplifts by strongly encouraging the salvage of mainly pine-leading stands and management options that minimize the “by-catch” of non-pine species and minimize destruction of advanced regeneration during salvage. However, this has an opportunity cost for the private industry where the objective is to maximize profit. If the salvage strategy focuses on decreasing the impact on cash flows, achieving desirable ending inventory levels, avoiding salvage of stands after shelf-life, and reducing impact on non-attack species, then the current harvest level will likely lead to a mid-term timber supply fall-down. Using the fibre for bioenergy production is an alternative if managing for bioenergy can be integrated into harvest operations. However, unlike mill residues, the bioenergy supply has to fully account for harvest and transportation costs of dead wood to the mill.

To address the scale mountain pine beetle (MPB) outbreak in British Columbia, salvage has become fully integrated with timber supply strategies. The objective of this thesis is to assess the economic impact of different salvage strategies depending on different attack levels, decay rates, and stakeholder discount rates. The study area is located in N.E. British Columbia where the MPB has not yet reached its peak and where susceptible to attack stands account for 40% of the area. Salvage strategies were modelled with a timber supply model (Woodstock) which uses a linear programming type II optimization approach. Performance of the model was assessed over a range of indicators such as NPV, profit, salvage proportion, species composition, inventory levels, and non-recoverable volume. Sensitivity analyses were conducted on harvest flow, discount rate, and ending inventory. The model was very sensitive to the intensity of attack and less sensitive to the decay level. The high level of attack resulted in large volume losses, mostly as un-salvaged inventory. Although allowable annual cut (AAC) uplifts have an economic benefit, they do not necessarily maximize the salvage of pine. Non-pine species are an important component of the salvage and these species are also essential for the future timber supply. If the objective is to ensure quality and quantity of the future forest, policies have to complement AAC uplifts by strongly encouraging the salvage of mainly pine-leading stands and management options that minimize the “by-catch” of non-pine species and minimize destruction of advanced regeneration during salvage. However, this has an opportunity cost for the private industry where the objective is to maximize profit. If the salvage strategy focuses on decreasing the impact on cash flows, achieving desirable ending inventory levels, avoiding salvage of stands after shelf-life, and reducing impact on non-attack species, then the current harvest level will likely lead to a mid-term timber supply fall-down. Using the fibre for bioenergy production is an alternative if managing for bioenergy can be integrated into harvest operations. However, unlike mill residues, the bioenergy supply has to fully account for harvest and transportation costs of dead wood to the mill. / Forestry, Faculty of / Graduate

I dagsläget finns ca 600 000 ha Contortaskog i Sverige varav en stor del planterades runt 70- till 80-talet. Contorta har sitt ursprung i västra USA och Kanada och introducerades i Sverige som en lösning på en förutspådd fibersvacka. I dagsläget börjar en stor del av den inplanterade Contortan börjar bli så pass gammal att det går att ta fram sågade trävaror ur stocken men exakt vilka egenskaper svenskvuxen Contorta har inte helt redogjort. I denna studie har korrelationen mellan medelårsringsbredden, sommarvedsandelen, svällning och böjhållfastheten, e-modulen och densiteten undersökts. Dessutom undersöktes det om det finns en statistisk skillnad mellan de fyra växtplatserna hos Contortan i studien och hur Contorta skiljer sig mot svensk tall och gran. Korrelationen mellan medelårsringsbredden och böjhållfastheten var -0,33, densiteten -0,18 och E-modulen -0,42. För sommarvedsandelen var korrelationen till böjhållfastheten 0,11, densiteten 0,21 och E-modulen 0,06. För radiell respektive tangentiell svällning var korrelationen till böjhållfastheten -0,12 och -0,15, densiteten 0,01 och 0,11, E-modulen -0,29 och 0,27. För alla fyra växtplatser fanns det en statiskt signifikant skillnad mellan medelvärdena för alla undersökta variabler. Svensk tall och Gran har liknande samband. / Currently there is about 600 000 hectares of lodgepole pine forests in Sweden which of most were planted during the 1970s and -80s. Lodgepole pine is native species to western USA and Canada and was introduced in Sweden as an answer to an expected pulp-fiber volume depression. A big portion of these stands are now reaching maturing age for sawn timber product production, but little is known about lodgepole pine grown on Swedish soil. In this study, the correlation between the mean tree ring width, latewood ratio, swelling and the bending strength, modulus of elasticity (MOE) and density have been studied, if there is a statistically significant difference between the four different geographical stands the lodgepole pine in this study are stemming from and lastly how Swedish grown lodgepole pine differs from the traditional Swedish construction lumbers Scots pine and Norway spruce. The correlation between the mean ring width and the bending strength was -0,33, the density -0,18 and the MOE -0,42. For the latewood ratio and the bending strength it was 0,11, the density 0,21 and the MOE 0,06. For the radial and tangential swelling respectively it was -0,12 and -0,15 for the bending strength, 0,01 and 0,11 for the density and -0,29 and 0,27 for the MOE. For all four different growth stands there was a statistically significant difference between the means for all studied variables. The relationships for both Scots pine and Norway spruce show similar magnitudes and directions.