This study examines how changes in economic activity in forestry, expressed as forest dependence at a census subdivision level (CSD), affected measures of economic well-being. The empirical models used to address this question were developed and estimated using random effects panel and two-stage least-squares estimators using data from the 1986, 1991, and 1996 Canadian census. The results illustrate the contribution of economi...

Conservation scientists recognize the urgency of incorporating opportunity costs into conservation planning. Despite this, applications to date have been limited, perhaps partly because of the difficulty in determining costs in regions with limited data on land prices and ownership. We present methods for estimating opportunity costs of land preservation in landscapes or ecoregions that are a changing mix of agriculture and na...

The natural disturbance model of forest management is the basis of many of the sustainable forest management systems being proposed for the boreal forest of Canada. Wildfire is the dominant natural agent of disturbance in the boreal mixed-wood forest. The natural disturbance model assumes that timber harvesting systems emulating the annual area burned by natural fire, its spatial distribution, and the amount of residual materi...

We used data from over 100 countries to investigate the link between numbers of threatened species and per‐capita gross national product. We corrected for factors that might otherwise confound such a relationship. Our study was motivated by the continuing debate over the relationship between environmental degradation and per‐capita income. Proponents of the environmental Kuznets‐curve hypothesis argue that although environment...

Economy-wide and distributive impacts of: (1) an $80 million increase in pulp and paper exports; (2) a $10 million decrease in lumber exports; (3) a 25% increase in the costs of timber production; and (4) a 25% increase in the costs of pulp and paper production in Alberta's forest sector are examined. A social accounting matrix (SAM)-based quantity model is used to examine the first two shocks, while a SAM-based price model is...