Thomas W. Steele

Associate Scientist
Superintendent:
Kemp Natural Resources Station

8031 Kemp Woods Road
Woodruff, WI 54568-9643

Phone: 715-356-9070
Fax: 715-356-3669

E-mail: tsteele@facstaff.wisc.edu

Specialization

Forest Economics and Management, Forest Operations

My primary responsibilities center on administration of the Kemp Natural Resources Station, a UW-Madison research and teaching facility located in north-central Wisconsin. There I oversee the Station's comprehensive program of natural resources research, instruction, and outreach.

In addition to my administrative duties, I conduct a small applied research program in the areas of forest economics & management and forest operations. My research interests are many and varied; however, I am particularly interested in interdisciplinary projects that integrate economics, silviculture, and resource management to foster sustainable forest management. Current research projects include economic analyses of silvicultural practices and studies of the regional logging sector with specific emphasis on technology adoption, timber supply, and the impacts of forest parcelization. Additionally, I co-teach Forestry 305 - Forest Operations and I coordinate/co-teach Forestry 655 - Forest Resources Practicum, a three-week forestry field course.

Education

Professional Experience

Honors and Awards

Canadian Institute of Forestry Bursary, University of New Brunswick

N. Myles Brown Scholarship, University of New Brunswick

Commonwealth Forestry Book Prize, University of New Brunswick

Xi Sigma Pi, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Ralph W. Marquis Memorial Award, University of Wisconsin-Madison

John N. McGovern Family Scholarship, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Chancellor's Recognition: University-Community Partnerships, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Agricultural Research Stations Staff Recognition Award, University of Wisconsin-Madison

College of Agricultural and Life Sciences Academic Staff Award for Excellence in Service, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Society/Professional Memberships

Society of American Foresters

Midwest Forest Economists

Selected Publications

Hawkins, C.B.D., T.W. Steele, and T. Letchford. 2006. The economics of site preparation and the impacts of current forest policy: Evidence from central British Columbia. Canadian Journal of Forest Research [In press].

Rickenbach, M.G. and T.W. Steele. 2006. Logging firms, NIPFs, and forest parcelization: Evidence of firm specialization and its impact on sustainable timber supply. Canadian Journal of Forest Research [In press].

Rickenbach, M.G., T.W. Steele, and M. Schira. 2006. Status of the logging sector in Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula - 2003. University of Wisconsin-Extension Cooperative Extension Service. [In press]

Rickenbach, M. and T.W. Steele. 2005. Comparing mechanized and non-mechanized logging firms in Wisconsin: Implications for a dynamic ownership and policy environment. Forest Products Journal 55(11): 21-26.

Stjernberg, E.I., J.L. Mitchell, R. Hsieh, C. Hawkins, and T. Steele. 2004. Review and synthesis of historical adaptive management strategies to control mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae): Efficacy and Economics. Mountain Pine Beetle Initiative, Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada, Victoria, B.C.

Han, H.-S., T.W. Steele, and L.D. Kellogg. 2003. DamQuick: A new method for rapidly assessing residual stand damage during partial timber harvest. Western Journal of Applied Forestry 18(2): 81-87.

Steele, T.W. and J.C. Stier. 2000. The impact of interdisciplinary research in the environmental sciences: A forestry case study. Journal of the American Society for Information Science 51(5):476-484.

Stier, J.C., A. Orlemann, and T.W. Steele. 1999. Four decades of Forest Science. Journal of Forestry 97(11):37-42.

Steele, T.W. and J.C. Stier. 1998. An economic evaluation of public and organized wildfire detection in Wisconsin. International Journal of Wildland Fire 8(4):205-215.

Steele, T.W. and J.C. Stier. 1997. The role of potential tax savings in stimulating enrollment in Wisconsin's Woodland Tax program. Pp. 349-354 In Schmithüsen, F. and W.C. Siegel (Eds.) Developments in forest and environmental law influencing natural resource management and forestry practices in the United States of America and Canada, International Union of Forest Research Organizations World Series, Vol. 7, IUFRO Secretariat, Vienna, Austria, 373 p.