Japanese Journal of Forest Planning

This paper provides a critque of the studies of the public participation in the decision making of the forest management from the perspective of environmental economics. The fundamental and future problems of the public participation are discussed. The theoretical reason of the public participation and the conditions of consensus building are analyzed by "Externalities". Furthermore, the combining the public participation and the environmental valuation is discussed.

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Public Participation in the planning process of US National Forest in 1980's failed because of lack of flexibility of the US Forest Service. The US Forest Service has a bias toward timber management, and was unwilling to introduce public participation. Since 1992, the Forest Service has been officially implementing an ecosystem approach for managing national forests. An ecosystem approach requires a public participation system which can deal with broad spatial ecosystem problems and allows for collaboration between various participants and community members. Under these circumstances, the Forest Service has been introducing a more open and collaborative decision making process, and educating employees on the concepts and skills required for public participation. Revision of National Forest Planning Regulation, which intended to promote a bottom-up and unbiased planning process, is also in the final stages. Ultimately, however the success of public participation depends upon the people involved and no amount of regulatory detail can guarantee effective and open communication. A combination of a community-based movement towards natural resource management and a collaborative decision making systems concerning national forests are the foundations needed to ensure public participation in ecosystem management.

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Flood control forest is long and slender forest along river to control flood. The forest is decreasing nowadays mainly due to river improvement. By means of case study about change of utilization of the forest in the Ara River in Fukushima prefecture, significance of the forest in the present day was discussed. As a result, in addition to flood control function, the forest has two significance nowadays. First, a part of the flood control forest of the Ara River is utilized as a recreation area, and it has various capasity of recreation such as stroll, green air bath, nature watching, environmental education and camping. Second, the flood control forest of the Ara River was utilized as a part of self-protection activity from flood by inhabitants. Generally speaking, according to construction of reliable bank, the activity to protect life and property from flood by inhabitants themselves are decreasing these days in Japan. So, the flood control forest has significance to show ideal and method of self-protection from flood.

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In recent years, more intensive forest management is necessary in the Tokyo University forest in Hokkaido, since foresters are diminishing. Thus, the object of this paper is to understand the change of stand structure of mixed-forest and to try to make a standard in the selection of trees to be felled and the classification of forest type. For these, sampling plots data and yield data of compartment 105 in the Tokyo University forest in Hokkaido are used. From the result, it was made clear that the extent of natural forest where we can manage by selection cutting system is decreasing but have a large quantity of conifer trees. It is predicted that the existence of conifer is indispensable to secure a sustainable management in selection cutting when quantity of succeeding trees of conifer is poor. We therefore, have to pay attention because the proportion of yield volume of middle and big sized timber is increasing. It is clear then, that there is forests which have succeeding broad leaf trees in which we cannot manage by selection cutting system because of a small number of conifer trees. Future study subject therefore, is to establish the way of management in such forests.

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