National Woodland Owner Survey

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National Woodland Owner Survey

• Brett J. Butler
• USDA Forest Service
• Northeastern Research Station
• Forest Inventory and Analysis Program

NE Forest Inventory and Analysis Users
Meeting Pittsburgh, PA May 3, 2005
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National Woodland Owner Survey

• Objectives
• Who are the landowners?
• Why do they own land?
• How do they use it?
• How do they intend to use it?
• Random sample of private forest-land owners in
  the U.S.
• Self-administered mail questionnaire
• Annual design

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Ownership Categories
All Owners
Public
Private
Federal
State
Local
Nonindustrial
Industrial
Other
Forest industry
Families and individuals
Other
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Forest Ownership
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Forest Ownership
Source Forest Resources of the United States,
2002
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Forest Ownership, Pennsylvania
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Who are the family forest owners?

• Number of owners
• 538,000
• Forested acres owned
• 10 million
• Education
• 54 some college
• Occupation
• 49 retired
• Average age
• 61 years

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What size holdings do they have?
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What size holdings do they have?
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What is the relationship between forest
management and size of forest holdings?
Timber Harvesting
Management Advice
Written Management Plan
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Why do they own forest land?
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Forest Management

• Timber harvesting
• 21 of family forest owners
• 38 of family forests
• Forest management plans
• 1 of family forest owners
• 6 of family forestland
• Professional assistance
• 8 of family forest owners
• 25 of family forestland

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What do they intend to do with it in the next 5
years?
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Trends in Forest Ownership

• Increased population pressures
• Evolving role of investment organizations and
  traditional forest industry companies
• Parcelization and consolidation
• Public lands increasing, but remaining relatively
  stable
• Lack of management funds
• High landowner turnover (families and
  individuals)
• Changing ownership objectives (families and
  individuals)

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Data Distribution

• Journal articles
• Forest Service publications
• Web tools
• Other

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The Future of the NWOS

• Annual design
• Contact 7,500 landowners per year
• Remeasurement (5-10 years)
• State-specific information
• Distribution of data and results
• Increased analysis
• Refine and modify survey instrument
• Address more specific issues
• Institutionalization