Commentary: Forest Plantations

Abstract Roger Sedjo and Daniel Botkin suggest in their article “Using Forest Plantations to Spare Natural Forests” (December), that trends toward increased commodity wood production in intensively managed plantations might take the pressure off natural forests. The authors imply that it would be a good idea, therefore, to try to remove the primary factor they say is obstructing this trend: environmentalists' perception that plantations are an alternative to natural forests, rather than an alternative to logging in natural forests.