Optimal Management of Two Interlinked Renewable Resources: Moose and Pine in Norway

In Norway, young pine trees serve as important winter browse for moose. In a model that simultaneously optimizes rotation length and moose management, moose density and harvest are set to trade off hunting values and timber damage, and adjust to changes in forage availability as the forest is logged. Simultaneously, logging times are chosen to maximize both timber and hunting values. Two possible optimal logging strategies exist: a long forest rotation solution that emphasizes timber production, and a short rotation solution that emphasizes moose production. Which of the two dominates depends on the relative values of moose and timber, on the value of the forage to moose productivity, and on the damage to timber caused by browsing. Because moose migrate, the tree owner does not necessarily capture the benefits from the moose productivity increase that follows each tree stand harvest, and therefore chooses a socially suboptimal rotation length. The challenge is to design institutional arrangements that induce the tree owner to adopt the socially optimal rotation length.