Sixty Years of Change in Tree Numbers and Basal Area in Central Utah Aspen Stands

Plots established in three separate aspen stands in central Utah were inventoried at irregular periods over a 64 year period

Public Benefits of Undeveloped Lands on Urban Outskirts: Non-Market Valuation Studies and their Role in Land Use Plans

Over the past three decades, the economics profession has developed methods for estimating the public benefits of green spaces, providing an opportunity to incorporate such information into land-use planning. While federal regulations routinely require such estimates for major regulations, the extent to which they are used in local land use plans is not clear. This paper reviews the literature on public values for lands on urban outskirts, not just to survey their methods or empirical findings, but to evaluate the role they have played--or have the potential to play-- in actual land use plans. Based on interviews with authors and representatives of funding agencies and local land trusts, it appears that academic work has had a mixed reception in the policy world. Reasons for this include a lack of interest in making academic work accessible to policy makers, emphasizing revealed preference methods which are inconsistent with policy priorities related to nonuse values, and emphasis on benefit-cost analyses. Nevertheless, there are examples of success stories that illustrate how such information can play a vital role in the design of conservation policies. Working Paper 07-2

Questions and Answers about Grazing on National Forests

Excerpt from the report Introduction: Of the 152 national forests, about 100 are important for grazing. There are roughly 10,000 grazing allotments, some used by individual operators, others used jointly by community groups. The demand for national-forest range far exceeds its capacity. The principles guiding grazing administration on the national forests are: 1. The protection and conservative use of all national-forest land adapted to grazing consistent with the protection of other important uses of the land. 2. The permanent good of the livestock industry through proper care and improvement of the grazing lands. 3. The continued stability of the established ranch owners using the range