Stand improvement (SI) has been widely accepted as an effective forest management tool. Yet most studies on its economic feasibility for nonindustrial private forest (NIPF) landowners are outdated and focus on the single stand level. The objective of this study was to conduct an economic assessment of SI’s effects and feasibility in hardwood stands for a case study in the White River Basin in Indiana. It is shown that SI could make these forests more productive and sustainable than the prevalent “hands-off” practice by enhancing the timber value of the residual stand (TV), generating regular timber income, and to some degree, reversing the decline in oak dominance. On average, a 25% increment in the TV could be achieved. Although costly for some NIPFs, once combined with voluntary financial incentive programs, SI could meet landowners’ demands for low-cost, high-return investment options. In particular, participation in the Environmental Quality Incentive Program could, on average, increase the net present value of timber income from thinning activities by nearly $1,600 per hectare over the course of 30 years. The spatial analysis revealed that there existed considerable spatial heterogeneity in SI benefits and impacts, suggesting that public incentive programs should be spatially targeted to achieve greater efficiency.

中文翻译：

---

评估中央阔叶林林分改良的效益和经济可行性

林分改良 (SI) 作为一种有效的森林管理工具已被广泛接受。然而，大多数关于其对非工业私有林 (NIPF) 土地所有者的经济可行性的研究都已经过时，并且集中在单一林分层面。本研究的目的是对 SI 在硬木林中的影响和可行性进行经济评估，以印第安纳州怀特河流域的案例研究为例。结果表明，SI 可以通过提高剩余林分 (TV) 的木材价值、产生固定的木材收入，并在一定程度上扭转橡木产量的下降，从而使这些森林比普遍的“放手”做法更具生产力和可持续性支配地位。平均而言，电视可以实现 25% 的增长。尽管对一些 NIPF 来说成本很高，但一旦与自愿性财务激励计划相结合，SI 可以满足土地所有者对低成本、高回报的投资选择的需求。尤其是，参与环境质量激励计划可以在 30 年内平均每公顷增加近 1,600 美元的疏伐活动木材收入的净现值。空间分析表明，SI 收益和影响存在相当大的空间异质性，这表明公共激励计划应在空间上具有针对性，以实现更高的效率。