The conflict in managing New Brunswick's forests for timber and other values

Abstract

A key forest management challenge in Canada, and elsewhere, is to strike an acceptable balance between the various values for which forests are to be managed. Striking that balance between commodity, aesthetic, environmental, and other values is difficult because (a) what defines an acceptable balance varies between parties who weight such values differently, and (b) some values are incompatible, in that managing for the betterment of one occurs at the expense of another. Timber supply is an important economic value in Canada, but there is clear evidence of an increasing social demand to favour non-timber values in forest management to a greater extent than has occurred in the past. Accommodating this demand often has negative timber supply consequences, thus forcing difficult decisions involving tradeoffs between values. Such tradeoffs occur when management decisions affect any of three primary factors of timber production, namely, landbase size, stand growth rates, and treatment timing choices. In New Brunswick, where aggressive industrial development has resulted in intensive use of the forest for timber production, the tradeoffs between timber and non-timber values are particularly difficult to make. Using New Brunswick as an example, this paper explores the mechanisms by which forest values conflict. It employs a simple land allocation schematic to illustrate the nature of that conflict, to identify plausible future scenarios in which that conflict is likely to intensify, and to discuss possible mitigating strategies. Key words: forest management, land zoning, nontimber values, trade-offs, New Brunswick forestry