In 1993, Minolta Camera Co., Ltd. produced a special camera, MC-100, as a prototype. It can record the size of the object that it focuses on and the distance between the camera and the object. Using this and other instruments, we developed a photo based measurement system for measuring trees. We measured diameter and tree height and the results showed that the accuracy of this system is good enough for survey or study usage. The advantages of this system are 1) it is possible to measure indirectly, 2) it is possible to measure and record at the same time and the record has a lot of information other than the measurement value, 3) it is simple and easy to operate and can be used by one person. The disadvantages are 1) it is not cost effective because each measurement requires a photos, 2) it is very hard to measure in dark conditions. However, this system has potential for general measurement of stands and forests.

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Forests are ecosystems with multiple basic functions, namely wood production and conservation of the environment, including the soil, water functions and so on. Forest Policy provides the interface between the natural and social sciences in forestry. Its interrelations include the needs for products and services and incorporates wildlife management. Wildlife management is closely related to forestry and should be coordinated and integrated with forest management. Past developments in forestry can be characterized as a change from forest exploitation to modified forest management, or a change from emphasizing the productive to incorporating different functions. Sustainable forest management and the development of overall land use policies was developed hundreds of years ago. In Germany, hunting played an important role in the development of an integrated forest management policy. In Japan, multiple-use forestry is a basic concept in forest policy. Water conservation, wood production and soil protection are emphasized, but wildlife management does not seem so important in Japanese forest management. Recently, the extent of damage by game has been highlighted in Japan. In this light, this paper focuses on wildlife management activities and the hunting act in Germany, in an attempt to make a contribution to the development of a wildlife management system for Japan.

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Recent research has been aimed at understanding public attitudes towards foresty policy. Although a number of surveys have gathered many responses to simple questionnaires about relevant issues, no studies have tried to explore the complex nature of public beliefs and thoughts on forest policy related issues. The purpose of the present paper is to further our understanding of public attitudes toward forest policy by examining the structure of the public's attitudes. Our focus is the public support of forest managment. The analysis using contingency tables and logit equations identified some typical internal relationships between attitude components in the respondent's overall attitude toward the issues. Our major findings were that firstly, agreement with public support for forest management by both monetary contribution and voluntary work was related to a belief in the need for silvicultural treatments to keep forests healthy, a belief in the consumer's responsibility, and appreciation of the values of the forest environment. Secondly, the people who supported voluntary work were a subset of the people who agreed to monetary support. Agreement with public support by voluntary work also seems to be characterised by particular kinds of personal tastes, particulary strong interests in nature.

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The Russian Far East Forests are a great ecological and natural resource of significance to the for Asia - Pacific region. Evaluation of the condition and dynamics of these forests helps in the evaluation of sustainable forest use trends in nature protection activities and the identification of research needs. In this paper, the condition of the Forest Service land as at January 1993 is described and the forest dynamics between 1966 and 1993 is analyzed. On the basis of the analysis of the forests' condition and dynamics, the ecological and timber potential of the Far East forests is evaluated.

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In recent years, it has been recognized that forestry management and the economic situation for forestry is deteriorating in Japan. However, the concept of forestry management is being used in a sense that is quite vague. We recognize that forest management is specialized and differs from other businesses in economic theory, and also that the conditions for it cannot be analyzed only by economic theory. In this paper, we examine the historical conditions which prompted the development of modern forest management and forestry from a socio-economic viewpoint. The most obvious factors contributing to the development of forest management include devastation of the forests and subsequent wood shortages. In addition to wood shortages, the modernization of land ownership, the agricultural revolution, the fuel revolution, and a long-term increase in wood prices contributed to the development of modern forest management. In Japan, the reforms of the Meiji Restoration and rapid increase in demand for timber following World War II were the most important factors influencing the development of modern forest management. The historical conditions in which forest management developed in Japan have now changed, but 10 million ha of plantation forests remain. Forest owner's cooperative associations could serve as a link between regional forest resources, forest management and forestry.

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Recent innovations in three-dimensional computer graphics have enabled reconstruction of a 45 million-year-old fossil forest on Axel Heiberg Island, Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Detailed study of one of the well-exposed fossil forest horizons formed the basis for a blueprint showing the position and diameter of each exposed stump. The results of this study provide insight into stand structure and density of this high-latitude fossil forest through visualization of the spatial configuration of the stand. The data from the fossil forest were calibrated with measurements taken from extant trees of the same species growing at Tsuruoka Campus, Yamagata University, Japan. The results are presented here as three-dimensional computer graphic representations and indicate that this Axel Heiberg Island fossil forest was a multi-storied climax stand with seedlings and juvenile trees growing under a forest canopy.

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This study reports the construction of yield tables using LYCS (Local Yield table Constructing System), a computer program based on a diameter growth model. The method and LYCS was developed by SHIRAISHI and is based on yield tables which are extended using a growth model. Hence, yield tables developed by LYCS don't contradict the original yield tables. According SHIRAISHI, modifying LYCS to a species and an area requires precise analysis of growth models and lots of data. It became clear, however, that analysis of existing yield tables and data to develop a parameter of main growth model for mean diameter could be used in LYCS. On the basis of this, yield tables for sugi (Cryptomeria japonica) in Kumamoto district were constructed. Although it was necessary to modify some equations, the fundamental structure of LYCS was not changed. Three types of yield tables for different density control plans were constructed and should be appropriate for prediction. Changes in the dimeter distribution were predicted to be smaller than those observed. This study proves that the SHIRAISHI method and LYCS are flexible and useful for practical application.

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