Forest Policy and Governance in the United States: An Introduction

This new textbook provides an up-to-date and comprehensive introduction to both the policy background and contemporary governance of forests in the United States.

Starting with a history of the development of forest policies and conservation agencies, the book then explores the diversity of forest owners, users, and uses and examines emerging approaches to forest governance that cross traditional jurisdictional and property boundaries. It tackles key contemporary issues such as the forest water nexus, the conservation of threatened and endangered species, and the challenges of managing fire, insect, and disease dynamics under a changing climate. Key focal areas include the emergence of collaborative approaches to forest governance, community forest relationships, changes to corporate timberland ownership, and contemporary governance mechanisms such as certification and payments for ecosystem services. This text raises the "big questions" about the distribution of rights and responsibilities in forest management, the tensions between equity and efficiency, and how to sustain a diversity of forest values under the pressures of ecological and social complexity. Written in an accessible and engaging manner, this textbook provides a timely synthesis of both the foundations and current trends and issues in forest policy and governance in the United States with a strong emphasis on illustrative real-world cases.

Forest Policy and Governance in the United States is essential reading for students in forest and natural resource policy courses and will be of great use to students in environmental governance courses. It will also be of interest to policymakers and professionals working in forest conservation and in the forest industry.

Jesse Abrams is an Assistant Professor of Natural Resource Policy and Sustainability in the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources and Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia, USA.