Abstract
We investigated the process in planning a forest road network by using a questionnaire, and the factors preventing the development of a regional forest road network in 46 municipalities in 10 forestry areas on the Pacific side of central Japan was analyzed. The following points were clarified: (1) Most municipality offices recognized the lack of and desire for more forest roads. (2) It is difficult to reach a consensus on road construction between forest owners because of complex relationships and their different points of view. (3) In particular, the existence of the beneficiaries' obligatory payment, or the lack of compensation for the loss of property or trees during road construction makes it difficult to build a consensus. (4) Many of the municipality offices that do have jurisdic-tion over road construction tend to rely on forest owners for consensus building, and the lack of publicity on the need for forest roads is a shortcoming of the conventional consensus building system.
