An Approach to Estimating Demand for National Forest Timber

Demand equations for timber from individual national forests are developed by estimating total timber demand in the forest's market area then deducting supply from private forest lands and from other public ownerships. The approach is illustrated for the nine national forests in the Douglas-fir Region. Demand was found to be elastic for all forests in the Region except those in the Northwest Oregon market area. Data is generally available to replicate the proposed modelling procedure for most of the major timber producing areas in the western United States. Results from the Douglas-fir Region example suggest the need for coordination of underlying demand and supply assumptions when developing demand (price) projections on several forests in a region in the land management planning process. Forest Sci. 29:289-300.