The research project will be developed as an integrated study of economic and ecologic impacts of wood chip production in North Carolina.

The economic component will examine direct financial impacts and broad economic issues of wood chip production. It will employ large scale economic and timber supply models to examine: (1) the impacts of wood chip production on timber supply; (2) the effect of wood chip production on wood-based manufacturing firms; (3) the effects of improved timber markets for forest landowners; (4) the market and nonmarket impacts on economically efficient forest management practices and on forest conditions; and (5) the impacts of wood chip production on local economies, infrastructure, and communities.

The ecologic component will evaluate the effects of expanded wood chip production on individual forest stands and regional landscapes by using literature reviews, field surveys, and models to examine: (1) how wood chip production alters ecology of forest management practices in North Carolina; (2) direct, indirect, and cumulative effects of wood chip production on forest structure, plant and animal communities, soil erosion and fertility, and water quality; (3) the impacts of wood chip mills on storm water and waste water runoff from processing facilities; and (4) evaluating forest management options for assuring sustainability of North Carolina's forest resources as harvest pressures continue to mount, and as forest values continue to increase.