In 1998, the government of British Columbia introduced a new form of tenure for community forestry. The Community Forest Agreement (CFA) was envisioned as a unique institutional mechanism for devolution, providing resource-dependent communities and First Nations in B.C. with the authority to set the direction of forest management in their locale, and to create local benefits. Relative to the industrial status quo, there were high expectations of community forestry and what it might achieve. This study empirically tested some of these expectations with respect to B.C.’s Community Forest Program. Taking a realist approach to evaluation, a variety of qualitative research methods were used to critically assess the structure, performance, and outcomes of the CFA. Analysis of the CFA revealed that its structure is virtually identical to tenures designed for industrial forestry with a few minor exceptions. In the current tenure regime, the CFA devolves limited power over strategic decisions and community control largely resides at the operational level, affecting on-the-ground aspects of timber harvesting rather than enabling a broader and more holistic approach to forest management. Outcomes of the CFA generally did not satisfy expectations that communities would commercially harvest botanical non-timber forest products, develop capacity for value-added wood processing, and utilize more environmentally-sensitive harvesting treatments. The study did find that CFAs supported local employment and were more labour intensive than industrial licensees in harvesting and silvicultural activities. Assessing the CFA structure and the on-the-ground outcomes side-by-side, this study suggests that the impediments to realizing a more holistic form of community forestry likely have their roots in the institutional mechanism itself, rather than in the efforts of communities. Flowing from the evaluation are recommendations for government to consider devolving more power over key strategic management decisions and increasing the size of CFAs to improve their economies of scale; and recommendations for communities to build their capacity and critical social mass to leverage policy changes that may further the evolution of community forestry in B.C.

Dissertation (Dr. nat. techn.) -- Universität für Bodenkultur Wien, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 162-167) and indexes of figures and tables.

Thesis (M.Sc. (Natural Resource Management))--Mahidol University, 2007. / LICL has E-Thesis 0022 ; please contact computer services.

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 1997. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 170-178). Also available on the World Wide Web.

In 1998, the government of British Columbia introduced a new form of tenure for community forestry. The Community Forest Agreement (CFA) was envisioned as a unique institutional mechanism for devolution, providing resource-dependent communities and First Nations in B.C. with the authority to set the direction of forest management in their locale, and to create local benefits. Relative to the industrial status quo, there were high expectations of community forestry and what it might achieve. This study empirically tested some of these expectations with respect to B.C.’s Community Forest Program. Taking a realist approach to evaluation, a variety of qualitative research methods were used to critically assess the structure, performance, and outcomes of the CFA. Analysis of the CFA revealed that its structure is virtually identical to tenures designed for industrial forestry with a few minor exceptions. In the current tenure regime, the CFA devolves limited power over strategic decisions and community control largely resides at the operational level, affecting on-the-ground aspects of timber harvesting rather than enabling a broader and more holistic approach to forest management. Outcomes of the CFA generally did not satisfy expectations that communities would commercially harvest botanical non-timber forest products, develop capacity for value-added wood processing, and utilize more environmentally-sensitive harvesting treatments. The study did find that CFAs supported local employment and were more labour intensive than industrial licensees in harvesting and silvicultural activities. Assessing the CFA structure and the on-the-ground outcomes side-by-side, this study suggests that the impediments to realizing a more holistic form of community forestry likely have their roots in the institutional mechanism itself, rather than in the efforts of communities. Flowing from the evaluation are recommendations for government to consider devolving more power over key strategic management decisions and increasing the size of CFAs to improve their economies of scale; and recommendations for communities to build their capacity and critical social mass to leverage policy changes that may further the evolution of community forestry in B.C. / Forestry, Faculty of / Graduate

In 2014, the legal landscape shifted in British Columbia with the unanimous Supreme Court decision, Tsilhqot’in Nation v. British Columbia. The case resulted in a recognition of Aboriginal title, and real and substantial Aboriginal authority over large tracts of land in the province. According to legal analysts, the most significant element is the requirement for stronger consultation with First Nations and – in many cases – consent that needs to be pursued by the province’s resource extraction industries prior to development. British Columbia’s community forest sector is unlikely to be immune to this shift. A baseline for First Nations involvement in community forestry – both in terms of breadth and depth – has not yet been established. While Tsilhqot’in is expected to dramatically impact stakeholder engagement, to what degree and in which locales this change will occur is not well known. Through a series of semi-formal interviews conducted with people in a leadership position in 19 of the province’s community forests, this paper establishes this baseline, as well as considers the potential impact of the Tsilhqot’in decision for the province’s community forest sector.

Small-scale forest-based enterprises (SSFBEs) are enterprises that utilize any material or product that is derived from forests, woodlands, or trees outside of forests and woodlands for income generation. Characteristically, they are small, rural, household-based operations that are technologically simple, requiring limited skills and little capital investment. Little attention has been paid to the importance of these enterprises in supporting rural livelihood in developing countries. At the same time, the income earned from SSFBEs provides an incentive for forest dwellers to manage their resources at a sustainable level, as well as helping to alleviate rural poverty. SSFBEs are, however, not without their problems. They face unstable markets, lack of raw materials, few financial resources, poor market access, and constraints on forest use and control, to name a few. The purpose of this paper is to provide a qualitative overview of SSFBEs by discussing their role in and importance to rural communities in developing countries, their significance in poverty alleviation and forest conservation, problems they face, and possible solutions. / Master of Urban and Regional Planning

Community and urban forestry is a multifaceted field ranging from tree planting to removal, hazard assessment, and public relations. However, the racial and gender diversity of the community forestry workforce is remarkably low. To gain a better understanding of this lack of diversity, I surveyed professionals in two major community/urban forestry organizations. Age, income, and years in the profession were considered, along with education level, to determine if there is some underlying reason for low representation of women and minorities in the community/urban forestry field. I found that while white males dominated all work sectors (especially private organizations), women were concentrated in public or non-profit organizations holding positions in offices, education, or other jobs with extensive public interaction. Minorities held similar positions to women or were in entry level jobs and general tree care rather than in more professionally advanced positions. Attitudes regarding most aspects of the profession varied little based on sex or minority status, with only minor differences on advancement potential and salary.

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This dissertation consists of three essays, of which, two involve assessing the value of tree cover in urban communities and the other evaluates cooperative management of an invasive species by urban communities. The first chapter summarizes the three topics and briefly describes the motivation, methods applied and main conclusions in each study. Chapter 2 presents a meta-analysis of hedonic property value studies on the value of tree cover. A meta-regression was performed using implicit value estimates for tree cover at property-level from various locations in the U.S. along with auxiliary data of county-level tree cover to investigate the relationship between tree cover and implicit-price estimates for residential properties. The study found that on average 35 percent and 40 percent tree cover respectively at property-level and county-level optimize the benefits to the property owners in urban areas. These results provide insights to forward-looking communities to adapt their tree planting and protection efforts to lessen climate-induced impacts. Chapter 3 applies a first-stage Hedonic property price model to estimate preference for tree cover in urban communities using single-family house sales data from multiple property markets across the U.S. The study analyses how home owners' preference for tree cover vary across the landscape and across cities. Further, it identifies what factors affect these variations via the general inferences obtained from an internal meta-analysis. The study confirms the heterogeneity of preferences as affected by the differences in the abundance of tree cover in study locations, regional differences and household characteristics. These findings add to the hedonic literature and provide useful information for future urban planning. Chapter 4 focuses on cooperative management of invasive species in landscapes with mixed land ownerships. This study analyzes the effect of the land ownership on the management efforts between an infested municipality and an uninfested municipality when a transferable payment scheme is involved in the cooperative agreement. A dynamic optimization problem was set up to evaluate the case of Emerald ash borer (EAB) control in multiple jurisdictions in the Twin Cities, Minnesota. The results suggest that when the infested municipality has more public lands and when the transfer payments are efficiently used to implement greater control, the municipalities are more likely to commit to bargaining, and smaller transfer payments paid over a longer span of time are sufficient for optimal control of the spread of invasive species across the municipalities. The last chapter concludes the three studies and discusses the insights for future research. / Ph. D. / Mountain pine beetles (Dendroctonus ponderosae) are a native insect that has decimated millions of hectares of mature pine forests in western North America. The purpose of this study was to investigate, using GIS-derived variables, biophysical and climatic factors that have influenced past mountain pine beetle insect outbreaks, as evident by beetle-induced tree mortality in the Crown of the Continent Ecosystem (CCE) from 1962 to 2014. Specific objectives of this study were to determine how selected biophysical variables (slope, aspect, elevation, and latitude), regional climate variables (temperature, precipitation, and drought) and global climate oscillations (ENSO, PDO, NAO, AO, and PNA) relate to bark beetle infestations in the Crown of the Continent Ecosystem from 1962 through 2014, as measured by aerial surveyrecorded tree mortality. We sought to contextualize the results of the statistical models with historical data to further understand the relationship between increases and decreases of tree mortality by comparing these trends to geopotential height and sea-surface temperatures that may influence CCE climate. Our work revealed first, that while the aerial survey data has important limitations, overall it is a useful dataset for analyzing historical spatio-temporal patterns of insect infestations. Second, there appears to be a link between local biophysical factors, such as latitude, elevation, and winter precipitation (as opposed to global climate factors) and tree mortality within the CCE. Local climate analysis revealed the importance of winter precipitation to be the biggest influence of MPB decrease or increase along with lower geopotential heights during a decline in MPB spread over the CCE. Finally, a combination of a negative PDO and El Niño was important in forecasting a decline in MPB spread, as shown by damage, during a given year. This is the first study to use aerial survey data in a geospatial analysis incorporating biophysical variables for the US portion of the Crown of the Continent Ecosystem. Additionally, this study is unique to explore the potential relationship between global teleconnections and regional climate in the CCE area, and the spatio-temporal extent of mountain pine beetle infestations.Urban trees have become a key resource in building sustainable communities. Knowledge of preferences for trees, costs and benefits of trees, and how trees are managed by private and public landowners, is indispensable in making targeted planning that would fulfill the economic, social and environmental objectives of the urban communities This dissertation explores on these topics in three papers. Chapter 1 summarizes the three topics and briefly describes the motivation, methods applied and main conclusions in each study. Chapter 2 presents a meta-analysis that combines the non-market value estimates for tree cover from previous hedonic studies from various locations in the U.S. along with auxiliary data to investigate the relationship between the level of tree cover and value estimates. The study found that on average 35% and 40% tree cover respectively at property-level and county-level optimize the benefits to the property owners. Chapter 3 analyses how home owners’ preferences for trees vary across the landscape in multiple cities in the U.S., and the results are systematically summarized via an internal-meta analysis. The study confirms the preference heterogeneity across the landscape and found that the relative abundance of tree cover in study locations, regional differences and household characteristics affect the preferences. Chapter 4 develops a dynamic optimization model to study how private and public land ownership in local municipalities affects the cooperative management of urban trees to control the Emerald ash borer (EAB) infestation in Twin Cities, Minnesota. The results suggest that when an infested municipality has more public lands and when the transfer payments are efficiently used to implement greater control, the municipalities are more likely to commit to bargaining agreements that last for longer period of time. Results from the three studies provide insights to forward-looking communities to adapt their tree planting and protection efforts to lessen climate-induced impacts. The last chapter concludes the three studies and discusses the insights for future research.