today.oregonstate.edu
Between California, Oregon, and Washington, wildfires and droughts over the past decade have resulted in approximately $11.2 billion in damages to privately held timberland according to a new study published in the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management.
Data utilized in the study included over 9,000 sales of privately-owned timberland that were over 10 acres and transacted from 2004 to 2020. Results found that drought stress reduced the economic value of timberland by 1% on average. In addition, wildfires reduced the value of timberland by an additional 8.7% over the past two decades.
The study found that the decrease in value from wildfires was largely attributable to the frequent proximity of neighboring fires that altered landowners’ expectations of fire arrival and increased risk of investing in private timberland.