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Search For A Solution: Sustaining the Land, People, and Economy of the Blue Mountains

Chapter 3: ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF RENEWABLE NATURAL RESOURCES IN THE BLUE MOUNTAINS
John A. Tanaka and Natalie Bolon

Introduction
Economic valuation of renewable natural resources is important in determining resource allocations and economic effects of alternative levels of supply and demand. Methods used to derive values for market and nonmarket goods and services, economic values for various natural resources in the Blue Mountains, and their use in finding efficient allocations of natural resources among competing uses will be reviewed. In cases where information is lacking for a specific natural resource, studies from outside the Blue Mountains area will be cited. The analysis will include the historical status of individual resources and the economic aspects of forest resource management. Theoretical aspects of specific valuation methodologies will not be detailed here.

The chapter will examine the economics of natural resource management in the Blue Mountains at the landscape or ecosystem level. In this view, the valuation of any particular resource by itself is of little value; it is the relations among resource values that are important in determining efficient patterns of resource use. Therefore, the valuation of each resource on a common unit of measurement (e.g., dollars, units of energy) is critical to the goal of landscape-level analysis. Methodologies to combine the information into a useful framework will also be examined.

Contents of Chapter Three:

• Introduction
• Forest Health, Economics, and Ecosystem Management
• Natural Resource Values
• Historical Perspectives
• Commodity Resources
• Noncommodity Resources
• Effects of Forest Management Practices
• Potential Studies
• Conclusion