PRIVATELY INITIATED FORESTRY AND FOREST PRODUCTS RESEARCH-AND-DEVELOPMENT - CURRENT STATUS AND FUTURE CHALLENGES

Forestry and forest products research and development (R&D) investment s in the United States are estimated to be $1.3 billion annually, of w hich $875 million to $895 million originates from the private sector. Forest products R&D accounts for the bulk of these investments, $815 m illion to $825 million. Private forestry R&D investments are in the ra nge of $60 million to $70 million. Compared with companies operating i n nonwood markets, investments in forestry and forest products R&D by private industrial concerns are often less in absolute magnitude and i n proportion to various economic measures. Since the early 1980s, priv ate forestry and forest products R&D interests have aggressively sough t out cooperative research arrangements with other private concerns an d with universities. The forestry R&D segment of private company resea rch programs is increasingly being directed toward environmental probl ems, often at the expense of more traditional concerns of forestry res earch.