Forest operations generate large quantities of forest biomass residues that can be used for production of bioenergy and bioproducts. However, a significant portion of recoverable residues are inaccessible to large chip vans, making use financially infeasible. New production systems must be developed to increase productivity and reduce costs to facilitate use of these materials. We present a com...

BACKGROUND Historic carbon emissions are an important foundation for proposed efforts to Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation and enhance forest carbon stocks through conservation and sustainable forest management (REDD+). The level of uncertainty in historic carbon emissions estimates is also critical for REDD+, since high uncertainties could limit climate benefits from c...

This article presents information on employment and payroll generated per unit volume of timber or wood fiber processed by the various manufacturing sectors of Montana's forest products industry for 19871989. Average employment ranged from a high of 117 workers per million cubic feet (mmcf) of wood fiber processed at house log plants, to a low of 12 workers per mmcf at stud mills. Employment-co...

Using forests to mitigate climate change has gained much interest in science and policy discussions. We examine the evidence for carbon benefits, environmental and monetary costs, risks and trade-offs for a variety of activities in three general strategies: (1) land use change to increase forest area (afforestation) and avoid deforestation; (2) carbon management in existing forests; and (3) the...

Forest farming in North America is becoming popular as a way for landowners to diversify income opportunities, improve management of forest resources, and increase biological diversity. People have been informally " farming the forests " for generations. However, in recent years, attention has been directed at formalizing forest farming and improving it through research and development activiti...

In wood trade, the supplier is the forest and the product is round wood. The quality, the quantity and value of wood depend heavily on the practices that are applied in the early stages of the supply chain. Current methods of the the productive capacity of forests, the annual consumption of wood and wood products, both from natural and technical forests and also from imports are presented. The ...

In Sweden, where forests cover more than 60% of the land area, silviculture and the use of forest products by industry and society play crucial roles in the national carbon balance. A scientific challenge is to understand how different forest management and wood use strategies can best contribute to climate change mitigation benefits. This study uses a set of models to analyze the effects of di...

Why a Special World Heritage Focus on Forests? Forest ecosystems hold the vast majority of the world's terrestrial species. Ironically, these same ecosystems are under the greatest chronic pressure from human activities. The most important threat comes from permanent conversion to non-forest uses – typically agriculture. The FAO (2005A) calculates that since 1990, an average of neary 12.3 milli...