The currently topical problems of forest management are issues of trans-science. They can be framed in the language of science but they cannot be resolved in the language of science. They involve historically contingent phenomena for which predictive certainty is not possible and they involve issues of moral, aesthetic and economic value. What is the role of science in contributing to the public debate on what are fundamentally social issues such as clear-cut logging or the preservation of old-growth forests? A history and philosophy of science, in general, and ecological science, in particular, is presented that traces the transition, over the last half century, from a positivist science of universal, timeless, predictable order to a science that attempts to interpret local, particular aspects of nature. The former relies on identifying restricted spatio-temporal scales that facilitate prediction while the latter focuses on an understanding of the causal relations within interrelated systems that facilitate explanation of system properties. A kind of contextual or dialectical holism is advocated wherein system components are considered in the context of the whole and the whole is considered as an epiphenomenon resulting from causal interaction of the parts. A history of forest science is presented that identifies sustained yield forestry as a construct of positivist science. Recent insights by ecological science, into the complexity and contingency of forest ecosystems, reveal the limitations of this simplified view. Moreover, the application of a single large-scale strategy such as sustained yield forestry to managing forests in British Columbia contained value assumptions that no longer reflect the full range of values that the public express. The currently topical debates on clear-cutting, logging in municipal watersheds and over-cutting are offered as examples of how questions of fact and questions of value become linked. Although these debates have been carried on in the language of science they are essentially social issues and cannot be resolved by science. The role of science in contributing to the resolution of social issues, such as the development of a sustainable forestry, is not to develop specific solutions but to contribute to the social dialogue in a subservient fashion. Science can characterize the context in which disagreements about matters of value take place. Science can use its experimental protocols to help society construct living experiments that allow us to learn our way into the future. Science can take part in an equitable conversation on sustainable forestry that will facilitate a better understanding of the beliefs and values of the human component of forested ecosystems. / Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies / Graduate

Information is needed to help forest managers reduce the visual impact of timber management where the public's image of the landscape may be disrupted. Visual impact magnitude may be assessed by extent of deviation from the characteristic landscape. From analysis of 43 visual impacts in the Windermere Public Sustained Yield Unit (P.S.Y.U.) in south-eastern British Columbia, and from selected literature, the independent and interacting visual effects of seventy timber management practices are identified, and rated as inevident, subordinate, or dominant in comparison with visual elements of the landscape. The visual effect of a given practice in a given forest landscape type is predictable with detailed knowledge of both, in most cases. The visual impact magnitude of a timber: management activity can be predicted from the number of most negative visual effects caused by the combination of management practices used. Practices introducing low visual effects or cancelling those of other practices are identified as landscape design tools. Use of landscape design tools is generally compatible with other forest environmental management aims, though exceptions of local importance are foreseen. Forest administration in British Columbia needs to be modified to accommodate visual constraints on timber management. In a case study in the Cartwright Lakes/Steamboat Mountain area in the Windermere P.S.Y.U., the costs of using design tools instead of conventional practices are estimated in three potential logging sites. Lower visual impact magnitudes can be achieved using common logging systems without significant cost increases, where some timber is left between settings in visually critical sites. Unconventional logging systems can raise or lower costs with or without visual constraints, but use as design tools may reduce extra costs on land that is costly to log. With government cut and leave policy and restrictions on logging methods, use of landscape design tools in high priority sites can have negligible cost increases, but it is not known how widely the case study conditions occur elsewhere. A procedure for visual impact planning is advanced, comprising analysis of biophysical and viewing conditions, identification of forest landscape types and visual objectives and selection of design tools to fit them, detailed planning of visual impacts, and graphic prediction of the outcome. Continuing research is needed to substantiate the study findings, and priorities are suggested. / Forestry, Faculty of / Graduate

Forest densification in response to a century of fire suppression in Sierra Nevada mixed conifer forests has decreased conifer regeneration and survival. Increases in overstory biomass and decreases in canopy heterogeneity, along with decreases in shrub cover in the understory, has created unfavorable establishment site conditions for conifer species. Establishment site conditions are key in promoting germination and establishment of conifers seeds and in determining the survival of these seedlings into the overstory. These changes in establishment site suitability resulting from the removal of disturbance from these forests has decreased conifer regeneration and survival into other age classes. In Sierra Nevada mixed-conifer forests, the relationship between establishment site conditions and conifer regeneration is multifaceted, and changes to microsite conditions as a result of fire suppression further confounds our understanding of conifer regeneration requirements and survival probability. Additionally, the relationship between Sierra Nevada shrubs and conifer seedlings is complex and not clearly understood, as these studies have been over relatively short time frames, and no research has examined the relationship between shrub cover and conifer seedlings throughout time in the Sierra Nevada. Using a historic dataset beginning 85 years ago and a re-measurement of the same plots, I examined changes to conifer regeneration dynamics from historic to current forests in response to forest densification following a century of fire suppression. I also analyzed the importance of establishment conditions on seedling survival into the canopy and how these factors have changed throughout time. The relationships between seedlings and their establishment site conditions will influence regeneration and survival, which will ultimately determine the structure and composition of future forests.

The failure of the centralized top down approach to management of common pool resources such as forests led policy makers and donors to conclude that devolution of forest management to local communities can be the only solution to such failures. Developing countries have thus resorted to devolution of forest management to forest adjacent communities through approaches such as joint forest management (JFM) and participatory forest management (PFM). PFM is part of the initiative towards devolution of power of management and decision making from government to local communities. Communities therefore self-organize into community forest associations (CFAs) or forest user groups to manage forest resources. In Kenya for instance, the recent and ongoing forest sector reforms as envisaged in the Forest Act (2005) and the Forest Act (2016) led to devolution of forest management through CFAs and provision of incentives such as plantation establishment and livelihood improvement scheme (PELIS), eco-tourism, harvesting of forest products among others. These efforts were aimed at deepening community participation in forest management and improving welfare of forest adjacent communities. However, despite the numerous efforts aimed at empowering communities to sustainably manage forest resources through PFM and provision of various incentives, the success of PFM in terms of efficiency, equity, accountability and environmental outcomes have been mixed. In this thesis, we contribute empirically to the understanding of how PFM can be successfully implemented and make suggestion for more inclusive, equitable and sustainable forest management in Kenya from a micro perspective using household and community level data collected from 22 CFAs in the Mau forest conservancy. We take into account the values and preferences attached to salient forest ecosystem services by local communities and how this can be used to design incentive schemes like PES to incentivize local communities and also influence devolution of forest management. We also assess the impact of existing incentives specifically PELIS on welfare of forest adjacent communities as well as the environment and the heterogeneous impact of the scheme on household welfare. We then look at the context specific factors influencing the varying levels of success among the CFAs. The thesis therefore, comprises of three separate, but related analysis chapters.

Recent concern has risen among forestry professionals that forest landowners are unaware of federal income tax provisions available to them that make forest management more cost effective. This concern specifically focuses on nine provisions. These nine provisions are: the treatment of timber income as capital gain, the deduction of annual management costs, depreciation of tangible property, the section 179 deduction, recovery of investment through depletion, the reforestation tax credit, amortization of reforestation costs over eight years, the exclusion of cost-share payments from gross income and deductions for casualty losses. The publication is divided into three major parts. In Part I the specifics of the nine provisions are covered in detail according to the current Internal Revenue Code. Current income tax rates are examined. The Passive Activity Loss Rules (PALS) are reviewed in terms of how they affect landowner eligibility to use the nine provisions for current loss deductions. PALS limitations incurred by holding forestland as a passive trade or business, or active trade or business are examined. Advantages and disadvantages to holding forestland as an investment are also examined. In Part II, the effects of timber income taxes on forestland investments are explored. Examples of taxes incurred (including the alternative minimum tax) when timber is sold are given. Tax calculations are based on a typical southern landowner involved with the management of a loblolly pine plantation. In Chapter 6, effects of using the nine income tax provisions on the land expectation value (LEV) of a typical forestland tract are examined for a high-income forest landowner and a low-income forest landowner engaged in both intensive and non-intensive loblolly pine management in the South. Cumulative effects of using or not using the nine income tax provisions in each regime are shown to dramatically influence LEV, and the importance of tax provision awareness is emphasized. In Chapter 7, the complexity of complying with timber tax law is examined. This chapter' s purpose is to provide an example of the detail involved in taking advantage of the tax laws. A demonstration of tax complexity is made with income tax calculations for the medium-income landowner in Chapter 6. The landowner first thins his 120-acre plantation in tax year 2003, and forms required by the IRS to use the tax provisions are identified and discussed. Although use of the provisions is essential for maximum economic returns, their complexity can discourage landowners from electing to use them. Part III presents the results and discussion of a mail survey sent to members of the American Tree Farm System (ATFS). In the survey questionnaire, landowners were asked if they were aware of the nine tax provisions, and if they used them where applicable. They were also asked why they failed to use certain provisions when they know about them. Various hypotheses are tested in Chapter 13. The demographics of ATFS members are compared with the demographics of the general U.S. forest landowner population as described by Birch (1996). The ATFS population was more timber production as well as more land investment oriented. ATFS members have significantly more harvesting experience than the general landowner. Tree Farmers typically own larger parcel sizes than the average landowner. ATFS members belong to a forestry organization, and ATFS members are more motivated in terms of forest management than the typical landowner. The results show that ATFS awareness and use of the tax provisions are low. Thus, increased efforts by natural resource professionals to inform landowners of their tax options are indicated. Caution should be used when interpreting survey results, because over 70% of ATFS members use tax professionals to file their income taxes. Consequently, actual use of tax provisions could be higher than predicted if the tax professionals are well versed in dealing with timber income. / Master of Science

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2002. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 60-62). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2002. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 1999. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 73-76). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 1999. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 40-47). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2004. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 130-149). Also available on the World Wide Web.