Logging - one of Mississippi’s most important industries

Logging is extremely important to Mississippi\u27s economy for two reasons. First, the industry is essential in providing wood-based raw materials necessary for many thousands of jobs throughout the state. The industry is the ·:first link in a manufacturing chain that reaches through the state and touches the pulp and paper industry, the sawmill industry. the furniture industry, the building/construction industry. and many others. The industry is also important because of the economic contributions it makes through its own employment and income created. In 1993, the industry contributed an estimated $1.-1-5 billion to Mississippi\u27s economy. and over 11 thousand jobs were directly and indirectly related to logging activities

Solid wood products industries - How important are they in Mississippi?

What are the solid wood products industries and how important are they in Mississippi? First, consider the list of solid wood industries that are present in Mississippi- it includes sawmills, plywood mills, reconstituted product mills, wood preserving plants, and firms manufacturing hardwood dimension stock and flooring, millwork, wood containers, wood pallets and skids, and prefabricated wood buildings

Economic impact of the forest products industries in Mississippi

The forest products industry in Mississippi has four main sectors: • Timber harvesting, • Pulp and paper industries, • Solid wood products industries, and • Wood furniture manufacturing. Each of these sectors is important to the state\u27s economy, but how important are they? To address this question, in this article we present estimates of the number of employees, wages and salaries, total output value, and value added for each industry sector and for the total of all four sectors in Mississippi in 1993- the last year for which all the data are available

Pulp and paper industries - multibillion dollar contributors to Mississippi’s economy

Pulp and paper industries are multi-billion dollar contributors to Mississippi\u27s economy each year. Pulp and paper manufacturers employ over 9,000 people in the state, and these jobs pay nearly $44,000 per year on average. They\u27re among the highest paying jobs of any industry in Mississippi. According to the latest Survey of Manufacturers by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, pulp and paper industries accounted for 4% of manufacturing employment in Mississippi in 1994, but 6% of manufacturing payroll

Economic Impact of Wildlife-Associated Recreation Expenditures in the Southeast United States: A General Equilibrium Analysis

The economic impact of wildlife-associated recreation in the Southeast United States was evaluated using a general equilibrium model. Exogenous demand shocks to the regional economy were based on estimates of expenditures by wildlife recreationists on hunting, fishing, and wildlife watching activities. Counterfactual simulations were carried out, making alternative assumptions about labor and capital mobility and their supply. Without wildlife-associated recreation expenditures, regional employment would have been smaller by up to 783 thousand jobs, and value added would have been $22 to$48 billion less. These findings underscore the significance of regional factor market conditions in economic impact and general equilibrium analysis.general equilibrium modeling, input-output analysis, regional economic impact, wildlife-associated recreation activities, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, R13, R15, Q26,

Factors Influencing Lease Revenue and Non-industrial Landowners' Willingness to allow Hunting Access

Despite the fact that earnings associated with selling hunting leases could significantly contribute to landowners' incomes, only a small minority of them allow access on their lands for a fee. Based on a sample survey of Mississippi state landowners, we analyzed landowners' willingness to participate in supplying leases as well as factors influencing lease revenue per fee acre. While landowners' decision to allow hunting access and factors influencing lease revenue per acre were jointly modeled consistent with Heckman's analysis of sample selectivity bias, the hunting lease revenue function was specified in accordance with Rosen's hedonic pricing theory. Empirical results showed landowners' concerns about control over their land, loss of privacy and damage to property, and accident liability insurance reduced their willingness to allow hunting access; and, in contrast, increase in total land holding, race and residential location increased the probability of participation. With regards to factors explaining differences in lease revenue per fee acre, analysis showed that location, expertise in managing fee hunting enterprise, provision of services, and certain wildlife habitats account for systematic variations in lease revenues. These findings have implications for landowners' management of their lands, the design of extension programs, and public agencies engaged in the provision of natural resource based recreation.Marginal lands, Mississippi, Incentive programs, Recreation, Wildlife enterprises, Farm Management, Q510, Q260,

Digestive plasticity of the small intestine and the fermentative hindgut in a marsupial herbivore, the tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii)

We investigated the effects of a ground, pelleted diet versus natural forage on the gross morphology of the gastrointestinal tract of a medium- sized (5 - 7 kg body mass) macropodid marsupial, the tammar wallaby ( Macropus eugenii). The empty wet mass ( g) of the small intestine of tammar wallabies maintained on a pelleted diet for 6 weeks was 22% greater than that of animals maintained on natural forage, once body mass was taken into account by ANCOVA. Similarly, the body-mass-adjusted length of the tammar wallaby caecum and proximal colon combined was 25% longer in animals maintained on the pelleted diet compared with those maintained on forage. Our data suggest that food particle size may be directly involved in controlling the size of the post-gastric alimentary tract in tammar wallabies, and thus in their diet choice and nutritional ecology. Notably, this is the first study that links phenotypic plasticity of the gut directly to diet in a marsupial and we conclude that the tammar wallaby is an excellent model for exploring the causes and consequences of digestive plasticity in macropodid marsupials

Issues concerning Landowner Management Plan Adoption Decisions: A Recursive Bivariate Probit Approach

Despite the likely benefits of having a written forest management plan, a small number of landowners in the United States have the one. A recursive bivariate probit model was used to identify the possible relationship between landowners’ decision to obtain a management plan and their interest in future timber harvesting. Our study results based on recursive bivariate model suggest that landowners having larger land ownerships, longer forest ownership tenure, and higher education were more likely to have a forest management plan and future timber harvesting interest. While the landowners having interest for wildlife management were also interested to have a written management plan, they did not prefer to harvest in future. Study results indicate that written management plan means more than a timber harvesting strategy to landowners in general. Many elderly landowners with a low level of income and less formal education and those having small or medium sized tracts of forestland are less likely to own a written management plan. Therefore, this group requires special attention in various government sponsored forest management related extension activities. Future research on understanding landowner perception behind written management plan is recommended

Using Focus Groups to Assess Educational Programming Needs in Forestry

Extension professionals are continually faced with the challenge of effectively communicating relevant information to an ever-evolving audience with diverse interests. Using focus group data, this article highlights specific educational programming needs of nonindustrial private forest landowners (NIPFs) in Mississippi. Findings indicate NIPFs are more likely to adopt new ideas if educational programming is tailored to their specific needs, consequently indicating the need to group the audience by their interests. Data also emphasize the importance of employing new technology as means for communicating more efficiently

Factors Affecting Mississippi’s NIPF Landowners’ Reforestation Decisions

Non-industrial private forest (NIPF) landowners have played an increasingly important role in the nation\u27s timber economy. Nearly 70% of the forestland in the South is owned by NIPF landowners (Powell et al., 1994). In Mississippi alone, these landowners control approximately 66% of the state\u27s forestland base (Hartsell and London, 1995). Therefore, NIPF landowners are expected to provide a large portion of the state\u27s supply of timber. However, whether they do so depends largely on how their timberlands are managed. Forest management decisions of NIPF landowners can impact future timber supply due to the magnitude of their collective ownership