Understanding and Reaching Family Forest Owners Lessons from Social Marketing Research

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Understanding and Reaching Family Forest Owners
Lessons from Social Marketing Research
The Sustaining Family Forests Initiative

• Mary Tyrell, Yale Program on Private Forests
• Brett Butler, USDA Forest Service
• Geoff Fienberg, Roper Public Affairs Media

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The Sustaining Family Forests Initiative

• Providing credible, useful information
• that will serve as a wide-ranging resource
• to aid in the development of outreach and
  services
• so that organizations working with family
  forest owners can be more strategic in meeting
  education, outreach, and service goals
• that will lead to enhanced stewardship of
  private lands
• and help keep forests as forests

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Forest Facts Loss of Forestland to Developed
Land in the U.S.
Source USDA Natural Resource Inventory
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Forest Facts Forest Ownership in the U.S.
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Social Marketing

• Selling ideas, not products
• Steps
• Research
• Implementation
• Evaluation
• Examples
• Anti-smoking
• Drunk driving
• Smokey the Bear

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Primary Data Source National Woodland Owner
Survey

• Conducted by USDA Forest Service
• Forest Inventory and Analysis
• To better understand
• Who the landowners are
• Why they own land
• How they have used it
• How they intend to use it

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Data Analysis A Social Marketing Approach

• Profiling
• Cross-tabulation
• Segmentation
• Multivariate analysis
• Prime prospects
• Attitudinal segmentation

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Profiling Family Forest Owners Forest Management

• Cost-share 9
• Written managament plan 8
• Conservation easement 3
• Green certification 2

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Profiling Family Forest Owners Reasons for
Owning Forestland
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Profiling Family Forest Owners Owner Demographics

• Gender 84 men
• Race 93 white
• Age 61 years (median)
• Education 70 do not have a college degree
• Employment 54 retired

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Multivariate Segmentation

• A multivariate, hierarchical clustering approach
  based on
• Ownership objectives
• Owners concerns
• Future intentions

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Multivariate Segmentation Woodland Retreat Owners

• Most common ownership objectives- Aesthetics-
  Privacy- Conservation- Family legacy
• More likely to have- Smaller plots- Have
  purchased their land- Live on their land
• Less likely to - Use land for commercial
  purposes

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Multivariate Segmentation Ready to Sell Owners
Most common ownership objectives- None More
likely to be- Absentee owners- Older
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Multivariate Segmentation Working the Land
Owners
Most common ownership objectives- Commercial-
Conservation- Recreation More likely to have-
Larger forest holdings- Purchased their land-
Harvested trees- Have definite plans for their
land- Participated in cost-share- Participated
in certification- Lowest incomes - Be
younger Less likely to - Be retired
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Multivariate Segmentation Supplemental Income
Owners
Most common ownership objectives- Land
investment- Timber harvesting- Family
legacy More likely to have- Larger forest
holdings- Inherited their land- Plan to pass
their forest land on- Participated in
cost-share Less likely to have - Participated in
certification- Conservation easements
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Multivariate Segmentation Clusters
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Prime Prospect Analysis Overview
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Prime Prospect Analysis Level of Engagement
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Prime Prospect Analysis Level of Interest
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Prime Prospect Analysis
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Prime Prospect Analysis Targeting Segments
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Next Steps

• Enhancing and extending research
• Pilot study
• Implementing and sharing results
• Advancing the initiative

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Social Marketing to Family Forest Owners
Grandpa, please dont sell!
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Social Marketing to Family Forest Owners
Is this your legacy???
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Social Marketing to Family Forest Owners
We sold the family forest do we look
happy?!?!?!
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The Sustaining Family Forests Initiative

• Funded through the generosity of
• International Paper
• Lowes
• MeadWestvaco
• Potlatch
• Surdna Foundation
• The Nature Conservancy
• USDA Forest Service, Cooperative Forestry
• USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station
• USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
• Weyerhaeuser

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The Sustaining Family Forest Initiative Primary
Contacts

• Mary Tyrrell
• Yale School of Forestry and Environmental
  Studies, Global Institute of Sustainable
  Forestry
• mary.tyrrell_at_yale.edu 203.432.5983
• Brett Butler
• USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station,
  Forest Inventory Analysis, Family Forest
  Research Centerbbutler01_at_fs.fed.us 413.545.1387
• Larry Wiseman
• American Forest Foundation
• lwiseman_at_forestfoundation.org 202.463.2460