A forest road is justified economically if, during its lifetime, benefits outweigh maintenance costs and harmful effects of the road on the environment, and the investment pays back within a certain period of time or yields a return. When the decision is made as to road construction, apart from the economic aspect, the effects on the natural and human environment should also be considered.
Road construction leads to reduction in costs of timber skidding and of other forests jobs, but it incurs maintenance costs. Road yeald equals all benefits of the road less negative effects on forest management due to road building. The project bas to pay back in the shortest time or it should yield a very good rate of interest on the capital investment Overall costs of forest road include, apart from building costs, the value of forest land occupied by the road as well as the loss in volume increment in the forest strip along the road. On the other hand, when the benefits of the road are assessed, it should be considered that the road will facilitate utilization of generally beneficial functions of the forest or even make their utilization possible and it will serve other users as well.
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