[greenyes] Subsidies to forestry

["Reindl, John" <Reindl@no.address>]

Hi Megan ~

With regard to your question "without incentives, will we do the right
thing"?, I would respond two ways:

First, in my mind, the subsidies are moving people to do the wrong thing.
The subsidies of Wisconsin are only given to those with forest land who
agree to cut down the trees and sell them to the forestry industry. No
comparable financial assistance is given by the state to those who want to
keep their forest as is.

Second, subsidies distort the marketplace. They lower the visible cost of
the resource, leading to over-consumption of the subsidized resource and
less use of the alternatives. Externalities are not considered, a further
distortion of the marketplace. 

I agree with the others that there are alternative approaches to improving
land use. 

John 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Megan Kershner [mailto:Mkershner@no.address]
> Sent: Wednesday, October 13, 2004 9:41 AM
> To: greenyes@no.address

> 
> which takes me
> back to my initial question....without incentives (whatever they might
> be), will we do the right thing?
> 
> Megan
> Boise, Idaho