Economy could hurt U.S. forests, United Nations says

A prolonged economic downturn could prompt more private woodland owners in their United States to sell their lots, threatening forests with development, the United Nations said today in its latest "State of the World's Forests" report. From 1994 to 2007, U.S. forest ownership by integrated forest companies -- involved in both production and processing -- declined from about 48 million acres to 10 million acres, the report says. Much of the ownership has been picked up by real estate investment trusts and other institutional investors. The change in ownership could undermine long-term investments in forest management and research, the report said, and accelerate commercial development of private forest lands. A prolonged down economy would further lower the value of wood, the report said, increasing the incentive to convert forests to other uses. But the supply of available forest land for purchase is also shrinking, the report said, providing a potential brake on the trend...The Oregonian

So a "prolonged down economy" lowers the value of a natural resource. I'm sure glad we have UN to teach us such things.