A process was designed to evaluate the sustainability and potential marketability of USDA Forest Service patented technologies. The process was designed and tested jointly by the University of North Carolina, the University of Michigan, Partners for Strategic Change, and the USDA Forest Service. Two technologies were evaluated: a fiber-based product and a wood fiber/fiberglass composite technology. The results indicate several different ways in which the technologies might be exploited to produce new commercial products for both domestic and international markets, through licensing of the patents and other agency/industry partnerships. This report represents the initial effort by the Forest Service to work in partnership with business schools to evaluate the commercial potential of patented agency technologies and locate potential licensees and cooperators interested in utilizing the technologies. The Forest Service will seek additional cooperative ventures with university business schools to develop business plans for other patented, but as yet unlicensed, technologies as the next step in the process of commercializing these technologies.

This book provides a global perspective on the various issues that the industry has to face as well as to provide some key global strategies that can help coping with those global challenges, such as collaboration, strategic value chain planning, and interdependency analyses. It presents literature reviews, strategic research orientations, assessment of some current key issues, and state-of-the-art methodologies.

Forest Management and Planning, Second Edition, addresses contemporary forest management planning issues, providing a concise, focused resource for those in forest management. The book is intermixed with chapters that concentrate on quantitative subjects, such as economics and linear programming, and qualitative chapters that provide discussions of important aspects of natural resource management, such as sustainability. Expanded coverage includes a case study of a closed canopy, uneven-aged forest, new forest plans from South America and Oceania, and a new chapter on scenario planning and climate change adaptation. - Helps students and early career forest managers understand the problems facing professionals in the field today - Designed to support land managers as they make complex decisions on the ecological, economic, and social impacts of forest and natural resources - Presents updated, real-life examples that are illustrated both mathematically and graphically - Includes a new chapter on scenario planning and climate change adaptation - Incorporates the newest research and forest certification standards - Offers access to a companion website with updated solutions, geographic databases, and illustrations