Collaboration by associate dean, professor produce second-edition, seminal forest resource economics textbook
A copy of the second edition of “Forestry Resource Economics and Finance” is shown. A Mississippi State administer and a faculty member in the MSU College of Forest Resources -- and others with MSU ties -- recently celebrated the release of the well-utilized forest economics textbook. PHOTO: Dominique Belcher | Agriculture and Natural Resources Marketing
A Mississippi State administrator and a faculty member in the College of Forest Resources are celebrating the January release of a co-authored, newly revised second edition of a recognized and well-utilized forest economics textbook.
MSU authors Steven Bullard and Stephen C. Grado partnered with Mississippi Development Authority’s Marcus Measells and Clemson University’s Thomas Straka to update and modernize W. David Klemperer’s “Forest Resource Economics and Finance,” published by Stephen F. Austin University Press to educate foresters and students nationwide on evaluating forestry investments.
“For generations of forestry students, the first edition of ‘Forest Resource Economics and Finance’ was part of a go-to textbook series, and you see it in the offices of many forestry professionals today. This updated textbook is an excellent resource to better understand forest economics by providing a comprehensive overview of important concepts including microeconomics, inflation, capital budgeting and supply-and-demand,” said Bullard, associate dean of the MSU College of Forest Resources and associate director of the Forest and Wildlife Research Center. MSU is one of 53 forestry programs accredited by the Society of American Foresters and requires an emphasis on forestry economics within its curriculum.
Bullard has nearly four decades of teaching experience in forest economics. He was recognized as an MSU Grisham Master Teacher and has worked in higher education administration for various institutions for almost 20 years, serving as a college dean and then provost at SFASU.
“It was very flattering to be asked to update the text along with other professors who are all very well-respected,” Bullard said. “It turned out to be a good team because we had very good representation for the sub-specialties such as the evaluation of nonmarket forest outputs including multiple-use forestry, regional economic analysis and world economy.”
Grado, a George L. Switzer Professor in the Department of Forestry, considers the textbook to be one of the highlights of his professional career. Currently the president of the Professional Arborist Association of Mississippi Board of Directors, he previously was president of Pennsylvania State University’s Forest Resources Alumni Group Board of Directors.
“Since the first edition was published almost 30 years ago, we wanted to see the material updated,” said Grado, who has more than 30 years of experience teaching natural resource economics. “We also wanted the chance to incorporate new, modern perspectives within the field. For instance, we looked more in-depth at nonmarket evaluations and other recent topics like forest certification.”
Measells is an MDA economic specialist III focusing on the forestry sector and is a former senior Extension associate in the MSU Department of Forestry. Clemson’s Straka spent eight years on the MSU faculty. He is an SAF Fellow and a registered forester in South Carolina and Mississippi. Textbook edits and clarifications also were made by economics professors from Oregon State and Pennsylvania State universities and the University of Arkansas at Monticello.
Copies of the textbook may be purchased through the Texas A&M University Press website by visiting www.tamupress.com/book/9781622884117/forest-resource-economics-and-finance.
For more on the Department of Forestry in the College of Forest Resources, visit www.cfr.msstate.edu.
MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.
Lily Grado | Agriculture and Natural Resources Marketing
