ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL, AND ECONOMIC TRADEOFFS OF MANAGING FORESTS FOR CARBON SEQUESTRATION OR TIMBER

The overall goal of this project is to build a decision support tool to assist researchers and land managers in evaluating forest management options that incorporates both ecological and socio-economic dimensions (Fig. 1). This tool will synthesize research related to managing for carbon (e.g., participating in the forest carbon market), timber, both carbon and timber, or taking no action. We will integrate site-specific ecological data, forest management practices, and carbon storage in wood products. Through non-industrial private forest (NIPF) landowner surveys and interviews, we will also assess NIPF landowners' perceptions about carbon market programs and their willingness-to-accept payment for forest carbon credits.There is a critical need to develop a modeling framework that can simulate forest management effects on carbon sequestration rates and integrate a cost-benefit analysis of forest carbon for landowners to make informed decisions that are optimal for their land and ownership goals (Fig. 1). To address this critical need, we will meet the following 3 objectives and decision support tool inputs:Objective 1: Identify optimal management practices for forest carbon sequestration by modeling rates across different management scenarios for a subset of Forest Inventory Analysis plots within our study region (Central and Northern Appalachia).Objective 2: Evaluate optimal forest management practices of carbon and timber for landowners using cost-benefit-analysis.Objective 3: Assess NIPF landowners' willingness-to-accept forest carbon credit programs in Central and Northern Appalachia by surveying landowners and holding discussion groups.