Economic Tradeoffs of Managing for Timber Production or Wildlife Habitat

Little quantitative information is available to nonindustrial-private forest (NIPF) owners regarding economic tradeoffs between managing pine plantations for timber production or wildlife habitat. We modeled loblolly (Pinus taeda) pine plantations to quantify economic tradeoffs for competing management scenarios using densities aimed at wildlife habitat or timber production in the Lower Coastal Plain and Coastal Flatwoods regions of Mississippi, USA. Scenarios contained a range of site indices, planting densities, thinning densities and frequencies, and rotation lengths for timber maximization and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) or northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) habitat production. Land expectation values (LEVs) were highest for timber scenarios, followed by joint deer and timber, joint quail and timber, deer, and quail management scenarios. Comparison to the regional hunting lease rate revealed that compensatory lease rates from the study could be realized, making wildlife management as valuable as timber management. The results of this study could help landowners be more informed about economic tradeoffs when making management decisions on their property. (C) 2017 The Wildlife Society.