Research Program Summary

Dr. Janaki R.R. Alavalapati
(.60 Research FTE)
Assistant Professor
Forest Policy and Socio-Economics

 

Florida is endowed with vast and diverse natural resources. Among these, forest ecosystems comprise 14.6 million acres occupying more than 42% of its total land base and serve many social, economic, and environmental needs of Floridians and others. These forests support approximately 132,000 jobs and contribute $9 billion to the economy. Furthermore, they provide a variety of recreational activities including camping, hiking, bird watching, canoeing, fishing, hunting, and nature study. These forests interface with lakes, rivers, coastal resources, and urban sprawl. Thus, sustainable management of these forest resources is of paramount importance to Florida’s economy and environment.

Rising demand for timber and non-timber products and increasing concern for the environment raises a myriad of issues relating to forest conservation and management. A strong argument is being made by interest groups for eliminating logging operations on U.S. national forest lands for economic and environmental reasons. Increasing efforts are being made to preserve ecologically sensitive forest lands. For example, in Florida, under the Preservation 2000 program, state government has acquired nearly one million acres to protect the integrity of ecological systems and to provide multiple benefits to Floridians. A recent referendum has reauthorized this program to further expand public lands. Public agencies have been considering involvement of private enterprise to develop ecotourism projects on national forest lands. Concerns for bio-diversity have led to the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in the U.S. and forest management practices must now conform to the ESA. In the southern U.S., protection of habitat for the Red Cockaded Woodpecker has influenced the management on many public and private forest lands. The Clean Water Act prompted many industrial and non-industrial forest land owners to adopt best management practices on a voluntary basis. Adhering to both acts may raise the costs of timber production. Growing evidence about global warming and climate change have prompted many researchers to explore mitigating effects of forests on climate change. Many governments worldwide have considered the development of policies to promote forest carbon sequestration. There is an increasing realization that agroforestry practices have a potential to improve the environment and promote economic development. As a result both developing and developed countries, including the U.S., are paying more attention to promote agroforestry practices.

Forest and resource conservation and management issues described above are expected to cause intense regional social, economic and environmental impacts. Knowledge about these impacts help forest land owners, corporate managers and policy makers make decisions relating to forest conservation and management. This project is aimed at analyzing various impacts of policy issues associated with forests and other natural resources. More specifically, the objectives are:

1) to analyze socio-economic and environmental impacts of forest and natural resource policy issues
2) to explore distributional impacts of policies
3) to draw implications for resource management in Florida, the U.S. and the rest of the world.