Sustainable Management of Natural Resources

The world's natural ecosystems are under increasing pressure to provide an expanding population with a sustainable supply of food, fiber, fuel, and other commodities while still providing services related to biodiversity and clean water and air. Our economists develop analytical tools that help individuals in the public and private sectors to develop reasoned policies for managing forests and other natural resources.

Focus Areas

Ecological and economic interrelationships in the management of ecosystems
Valuation of ecosystem services
Optimal management of multi-use natural resources, such as national parks and forests
Motivation and behavior of resource managers
Carbon sequestration, bio-energy, and climate change

Analytical Methodologies

Integrating models of ecological and economic processes
Combining ecological and economic models of land-intensive sectors (forestry, agriculture, developed use) to understand the relationship between changes in land use and ecosystem services
Conducting econometric analyses of resource management
Applying multiple-use objective models to survey data to estimate statistical models of harvesting and investment behavior
Forecasting
Using process and econometric models to simulate future changes in market and nonmarket outcomes in response to policy, technology, and other resource management influences
Performing benefit-cost analyses
Applying market models to evaluate the social welfare consequences of natural resource policies
Conducting socioeconomic impact analyses
Applying local and regional impact models to assess the socioeconomic consequences of alternative natural resource management policies

We apply our expertise in economics and sustainable management to challenges facing the U.S. and other countries. Our economists support RTI's wide-ranging work in domestic air, water, and land resources issues, and they contribute to our work in international environmental resource management.