How Long Do NIPF Landowners Wait to Reforest after Harvesting?*

Understanding how quickly landowners regenerate their timberlands after harvest is critical to developing policies to improve forest productivity. Using survey data from 81 counties in Mississippi from 1996 to 2006, this study investigated the length of the time interval between harvest and reforestation. Non-parametric duration analysis was used to examine how long NIPF landowners waited to reforest after harvesting. The average time that elapsed from harvest to regeneration was 11 months within the study period. The probability of regeneration reached its highest value in the 16 month after harvest and thereafter decreased steadily until the 28 month, after which the probability of regeneration was essentially nil.