Use of production functions to evaluate multiple use treatments on forested watersheds

Abstract

Preliminary production functions are identified for alternative land treatments on Beaver Creek watersheds in northern Arizona. These treatments are designed to increase water yield within a multiple use framework that includes timber, wildlife habitat, herbage, recreation, sediment, and environmental quality. Total, average, and marginal economic concepts are used to demonstrate the most efficient way to manage an area for one output. Even without price information, a range of ‘best’ input combinations can be identified. To determine how an area can be managed for multiple products in the most efficient way, product‐product functions were developed for water, timber, and herbage for five strip cutting alternatives. These functions indicate the supplementary, complementary, and competitive outputs obtained from a given expenditure. To account for the dynamic nature of production in the National Forests, outputs and costs were evaluated over a 90‐year period.