RESEARCH
Forestland Investment
Development of timber REITs: Timber real estate investment trusts (REITs) are companies that own and manage timberland and generate revenue by harvesting and selling timber or other forest-related products. There are three timber REITs in the US, after the recent merger of CatchMark and PotlatchDeltic. We study how the financial performance of timber REITs changes over time.
Time-varying performance: Timber REIT return is sensitive to returns on other asset classes and the large-cap stocks and idiosyncratic factors are the major contributors to REIT volatility. Timber REIT characteristics change with time and the timber REIT market is not mature.
Inflation hedging ability: Private- and public-equity timberland are alternative asset classes that could protect investment portfolios against inflation. Hedging ability depends on the investment horizon and the overall state of the economy. Farmland assets are also viewed as good inflation hedges. Adding inflation-hedging assets to a portfolio can provide capital stabilization for long-term investors such as pension funds and endowments during inflationary environments.
Forest Taxation
The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act impacts on forest landowners: Taxation is an important issue for forest landowners as it influences forest management activities, ownership structure, and forestland investment decisions. Under the 2017 Act, owning timberland can become less beneficial for median-income family forest landowners in the US Southeast.
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Ongoing Projects...
Impacts of federal and state conservation easement tax incentive programs in the US.
Economic analysis of hazardous forest fuel treatment activities.
Provision of ecosystem services by rangeland ecosystems.
Effectiveness of revegetation assistance programs for private forest landowners in the US.
Effectiveness of wildfire prevention programs on the Tribal lands.
Assessment of forest carbon programs in the United States.