Introduction to Forestry and Natural Resources

Introduction to Forestry and Natural Resources, Second Edition, presents a broad, completely updated overview of the profession of forestry. The book details several key fields within forestry, including forest management, economics, policy, utilization and forestry careers. Chapters deal specifically with forest regions of the world, landowners, forest products, wildlife habitats, tree anatomy and physiology, and forest disturbances and health. These topics are ideal for undergraduate introductory courses and include numerous examples and questions for students to ponder. There is also a section dedicated to forestry careers. Unlike other introductory forestry texts, which focus largely on forest ecology rather than practical forestry concepts, this book encompasses the economic, ecological and social aspects, thus providing a uniquely balanced text. The wide range of experience of the contributing authors equips them especially well to identify missing content from other texts in the area and address topics currently covered in corresponding college courses.

Dr. Donald L. Grebner is a professor in the Department of Forestry, Mississippi State University. His areas of research specialization include forest management and economics, bioenergy, carbon sequestration, and forest protection. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses, both traditional and distance, in forest resource management, advanced forest management, and international forest resources and trade. Prior to his time at Mississippi State, he worked as an extension forester with the U.S. Peace Corps in Costa Rica and was a research analyst for Winrock International. He is very active in the Society of American Foresters as well as the International Union of Forest Research Organizations, Unit 4.02.00 Accounting and Managerial Economics Working Group. Dr. Grebner is a co-author of three textbooks entitled Forest Management and Planning, Introduction to Forestry and Natural Resources, and Forest Plans of North America.

Pete Bettinger is a professor of forestry at the University of Georgia. He teaches forest planning, forest measurements, and aerial photogrammetry; and conducts research in applied forest management with particular emphasis on harvest scheduling, precision forestry, and geospatial technologies. Dr. Bettinger has worked with the forest industry in the southern and western United States, and maintains this connection to forestry professionals through his leadership in the Southern Forestry and Natural Resource Management GIS Conference and other continuing education courses he offers. Dr. Bettinger is also a co-author of two other books published by Academic Press, Introduction to Forestry and Natural Resources, and Forest Plans of North America.

Jacek Siry is a professor of forest economics at the University of Georgia. He teaches forest economics, economics of renewable resources, and international forest business, and conducts research in applied forest economics with emphasis on timber markets, investments and finance, and forest management. Dr. Siry is also a co-author of two other books published by Academic Press, Introduction to Forestry and Natural Resources, and Forest Plans of North America.

Dr. Boston received a Bachelor’s degree in forestry from Humboldt State University, and Masters and PhD degrees in forest engineering from Oregon State University. He obtained a JD from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon. Dr. Boston worked for the forest industry in the western United States, Europe and New Zealand. He was a principle in the GIS firm VESTRA Resources in 1988. Dr. Boston has published over 100 peer-reviewed journal articles and is a co-author of four books published by Academic Press, Forest Management and Planning, Forest Plans of North America, Mapping of Human and Natural Systems, and Introduction to Forest Management and two with Springer, Forest Operations in the Tropics and Forest Road Operations in the Tropics. Dr. Boston is an editor of Mathematical and Computational Forestry & Natural-Resource Sciences. To our knowledge, he is the only person who has received teaching awards from three different university forestry programs.