Some Considerations in Modelling Private Woodlot Timber Supply

Private woodlot owners have diverse backgrounds, ownerships, and forest management objectives. Among these management objectives timber production may be of secondary importance. The diversity of forest landowners and ownerships results in considerable uncertainty in availability of timber from these lands. In this paper we use a literature review to identify the variables and techniques that are important to determining timber supply from private woodlots. We also discuss how models designed for timber supply analyses under a single owner objective are invalid for modelling private woodlot timber supply, and suggest ways to modify existing timber supply models to incorporate ownership variability.