Summary
The forests of North America represent enormous natural bounty. Yet, in the United States at least, the benefits of this wealth of nature are not being fully realized. Taxpayers lose money on their public forests, and the forests face severe ecological threats.
Concern about the forests has inspired a search for different approaches to the management of logging and other forest-related activities. This search has led to Canada, where public forests are managed in ways that are strikingly different from those in the United States.
In this essay, "," Alison Berry presents examples from Canada that illustrate the benefits of long-term leases and licences (often called tenures) and decentralized control.
Alison Berry is a research fellow at PERC, the Property and Environment Research Center in Bozeman, Montana. PERC is a nonprofit institute dedicated to improving environmental quality through property rights and markets. This essay is part of a project sponsored by the Dufresne Foundation and the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust.
Berry has an undergraduate degree in biology from the University of Vermont and a master's degree in forestry from the University of Montana. Before joining PERC, she worked for the U.S. Forest Service as a supervisory botanist and forestry technician. She has also been a restoration specialist with the Trustees of Reservations in Massachusetts and a biological science technician for a private company, Biological Control of Weeds in Bozeman. Her research has been published in the Journal of Forestry and the Western Journal of Applied Forestry.
Founded 30 years ago in Bozeman, Montana, PERC—the Property and Environment Research Center—is the nation’s oldest and largest institute dedicated to improving environmental quality through property rights and markets.
PERC’s publications, each designed to resonate with specific groups, move ideas generated at PERC to broader audiences.
Research is at the heart of PERC's work, with a focus on the question: What is the link between economic growth and environmental quality?
The goal of PERC’s programs is to fully realize the vision of establishing “PERC University,” where scholars, students, policy makers, and others convene to expand the applications of free market environmentalism.
PERC's fellowships share a common goal of exposing new scholars, students, journalists, and policy makers to free market environmentalism, as well as enable scholars already familiar with FME to explore new applications.
PERC continues to publish and present a broad range of research and discussion through podcasts, videos, and other multimedia channels.