Opportunities for conservation-based development of nontimber forest products in the Pacific Northwest.

Abstract

Declines in timber harvests on public lands and new market opportunities have rekindled an interest in nontimber forest products. Such products as edible mushrooms, medicinal plants, and floral and holiday greens provide alternative sources of revenue and employment for rural communities. This paper describes and analyzes the contribution of the nontimber forest product industries in the Pacific Northwest from economic, social, and ecological perspectives. We conclude that promises of replacement for declining timber harvests has been largely unfulfilled: the nontimber forest product industries are seasonal, cyclical, and competitive, with generally low returns to harvesters. On the other hand, harvesting of nontimber forest products provides opportunities to those with the fewest options: recent immigrant groups and residents of economically distressed communities. The current economic contribution of nontimber forest products, however, may be considerably less than their future potential under management regimes that emphasize both timber and nontimber products. Forest management systems that emphasize a variety of forest products and services are generally higher in diversity, habitat value, recreation value, and aesthetic appeal.

Gathering in Thoreau's backyard: nontimber forest product harvesting as practice

“…The US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management, which manage 22 352 000 and 3 365 000 acres, respectively, began to concern themselves with commercial NTFP harvesting in the early 1990s. Echoing developments in international conservation a decade earlier, NTFPs appeared to offer the prospect of reconciling two goals that seemed pitted against each other in the prevailing crisis – forest conservation and rural development (Hagen et al 1996; Crook and Clapp 1998; Hagen and Fight 1999; Love and Jones 2001; Emery 2002). As environmental opposition to logging increased, NTFPs seemed to represent a sustainable livelihood for communities whose economies traditionally depended on extractive forestry (Thomas and Schumann 1993; Wetzel et al 2006).…”

Is Non-Timber Forest Product Harvest Sustainable in the Less Developed World? A Systematic Review of the Recent Economic and Ecological Literature

“…The extraction of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) from old-and second-growth habitats includes foods, fiber, medicines, latex, and sundry other plant and fungal products Voeks 2011). Long regarded as economically atavistic and environmentally destructive by government planners, NTFP collection and trade by the 1990s began to be viewed by national and international entities as a potential rural development-resource conservation win-win (Hagen and Fight 1999;Peters et al 1989;Schwartzman et al 2000). Whether destined for personal consumptive or commercial ends, NTFPs can open several routes to livelihood improvement among marginalized, rural communities in the developing world (Avocevou-Ayiso et al 2009).…”

Salal Harvester Local Ecological Knowledge, Harvest Practices and Understory Management on the Olympic Peninsula, Washington

“…The rapid increase in the harvesting of NTFP species has put forest managers in the position of managing with little information about the ecological, social, and economic impacts of harvesting high value edible mushrooms, edible berries, medicinal plants, and shrubs and ferns used as greenery in floral bouquets, called floral greens (Savage, 1995;Von Hagen and Fight, 1999). Despite the need, the harvesters that spend their days in the woods collecting NTFPs have not been tapped as a source of information and have generally not participated in the management or decision-making for these resources (McLain and Jones, 1997).…”