Response: Depletion and degradation are not the same

This article responses to the Case against Environmental Taxes for Sustainable Forestry. The author points out that in the previous article the implications of continuity of ownership and associate responsibilities are obscured by not clearly distinguishing timber-related depletion costs from nontimber environmental costs. Because the environmental effects of tropical logging are externalities, some type of public policy is neccessary to ensure that private actions coincide with socially optimal behavior. Environmental taxes may not be the only policy action available though.