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Book Cover for: From Backwoods to Boardrooms: The Rise of Institutional Investment in Timberland, Daowei Zhang

From Backwoods to Boardrooms: The Rise of Institutional Investment in Timberland

Daowei Zhang

Paperback
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Since the early 1900s, forestland ownership has gone through two major structural changes in the United States and other parts of the world: the accumulation of industrial timberlands between the 1900s and 1980s and, since then, the shift from industrial to institutional ownership. From Backwoods to Boardrooms explores the history and economics of these two structural changes with emphasis on the latter. These ownership transformations have impacted tens of millions of acres of private landholdings and billions of investment dollars. Industrial structure, forest management and policy, research and development, community welfare, and forest sustainability have all been directly affected.

Through a historical examination of key events and players, prevailing management philosophies, public policy, and institutional factors, Daowei Zhang searches for an economic explanation and assesses the impact of these ownership revolutions with a three-pronged approach. First, he explains why industrial firms were able to profit from owning forestlands, and how the shift to institutional ownership came about. Second, he compares private timberland investments and public equity investments with respect to risk-adjusted returns and other dimensions of interest to investors and forest managers, including alignment of interests, capacity to exploit market inefficiencies, and their forest management and conservation records. Finally, he provides thoughtful commentary on the future of institutional timberland investments and global forest sustainability.
From Backwoods to Boardrooms is essential reading for forest managers, investors, and anyone interested in understanding the workings of the modern forest sector and the future of forest sustainability.

Book Details

  • Publisher: Oregon State University Press
  • Publish Date: Sep 15th, 2021
  • Pages: 280
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 8.90in - 5.90in - 0.70in - 0.95lb
  • EAN: 9780870711428
  • Categories: • Agriculture - Forestry

About the Author

Daowei Zhang is George Peake Professor and associate dean for research at School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, Auburn University. He worked at the Ministry of Forestry and China Development Bank and served on the board of directors of the Pinchot Institute for Conservation and as Senior Forestry Officer and Team Leader for Climate Change and Resilience at Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. He is a recipient of IUFRO's Scientific Achievement Award and Society of American Foresters' (SAF) Award in Forest Science. He is a SAF Fellow and has authored more than 130 refereed articles, books, and book chapters.

Praise for this book

"Professor Zhang has written a remarkable book about the transformation of private forest ownership in the US and around the world during the past thirty-five years. The scale of the change--from lands once owned by integrated forest products companies to institutional investors--is truly revolutionary and is a story impacting tens of millions of acres of private landholdings and billions of dollars of investment. This revolution in ownership with its complex reasons and policy impacts has not been told with such reasoned and thoughtful attention before. This book is a must read for anyone who contributed to this transition, were participants in the organizations who made it happen, or beneficiaries of its impact." --Peter C. Mertz, Former President and CEO of Global Forest Partners
"Professor Daowei Zhang has written an outstanding and thorough history and analysis of the timber investment history." --Duncan Campbell, Founder of Campbell Global
This is the first book to provide a comprehensive assessment of the restructuring of commercial timberland ownership and management in the United States and around the globe. Dr. Zhang has provided a great service to the sector by capturing not only the technical and theoretical aspects of this episode but the human side as well. Interviews with the pioneers of modern timber finance help make this book engaging as well as informative and capture details of the history that could otherwise have been lost. It will be required reading for anyone interested in understanding the workings of the modern forest sector. --David N. Wear, Resource for the Future
"In this original and comprehensive research piece, Professor Zhang presents the history of institutional timberland investments and pioneers, analytical opportunities, current events and major TIMOs and REITs firms, financial performance of TIMOs and timberland REITs, regional and international timberland investments, and future promises. It is encyclopedic, and a must read for anyone involved in forest investment and management in the U.S. or other countries." --F. Christian Zinkhan, Founder and Chairman of The Forestland Group
"This book is a goldmine of information on the history, economics and investment vehicles in the forestry asset class." --David Brand, Chief Executive Officer, New Forests Asset Management Pty Limited

"From Backwoods to Boardrooms: The Rise of Institutional Investment in Timberland is a thoroughly researched and detailed account of the origin of a new investment asset class, which is now common in institutional investment portfolios and which substantially altered private timberland ownership patterns in the U.S. It is a must read for students of forest business and finance, as well as those interested institutional timberland investments.--Charles M. Tarver, Founder and Former President of Forest Investment Associates, Atlanta

"A seminal piece on institutional timberland investment." --Clark S. Binkley, former Chief Investment Officer, Hancock Timber Resource Group and GreenWood Resources
"Daowei Zhang has written the seminal book on Institutional Investment in Timberland, which will be the standard reference henceforth. The book has a comprehensive and insightful blend of economic theory about investments; a great history and rich stories about early and current institutional investors and individual leaders in the investment arena; analysis of the reasons for the trend of the huge rise in institutional investments in the last four decades; and comments on prospects for the future. This is a fascinating mix of scholarship, investment sector acumen, and enjoyable reading for all readers and investors in the forestry sector." --Frederick W. Cubbage, Professor, North Carolina State University

"Whether you are a student or a professional institutional investor, Professor Zhang's book provides a meaningful analysis of how tax policy drove profound changes in timberland ownership in the private and public sector over the last four decades." --Mike Covey, Executive Chairperson, PotlatchDeltic Corporation

"This is a novel and prime research work on commercial timberland investments in the United States as well as in the world. Everyone in the timberland investment field should have Dr. Zhang's book on their shelves. It also adds a significant value to the general discipline of Forest Economics." --Bin Mei, Hargreaves Professor of Forest Finance, University of Georgia

"Professor Zhang's well researched book is an excellent guide for those who want to understand the transformation of the timber industry over the last 40 years." --Russell Hagen, Chief Development Officer, Weyerhaeuser Company