Forest Tenures — Requirements, Rights and Responsibilities: An Economic Perspective

The nature of forest tenure arrangements is analysed in terms of requirements, rights and responsibilities. The standards of private management of Crown lands frequently fall below public expectations because: (a) the benefits that rights confer on tenure holders are entirely, or partially, appropriated for the Crown through the imposition of stringent legal requirements; and/or (b) the rights, themselves, are of ambiguous legal status and non-compensable, thus introducing considerable uncertainty into forest tenure arrangements. Without security, tenure holders have less incentive to voluntarily manage Crown forests.Who should manage Crown forests? — is a judgmental question that depends on society's notions of what is morally correct or equitable. Who will manage Crown forests? — is an economic and legal question, the answer to which depends on the existence of legal rights and on the legal requirements imposed by forest tenure agreements.