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Small-Area Family Forest Ownerships in the USA

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Abstract

Sixty percent of family forest ownerships in the United States of America (USA) own between 0.4 and 4.0 ha (1–9 ac). Yet, little is known about this segment of family forest ownerships because they are often excluded from data collection or analyses. We utilized national data for the USA collected through the National Woodland Owner Survey to examine small-area ownerships, as well as compare attributes of this ownership group to larger-area ownerships. Small-area ownerships are less active than ownerships of greater than 4.0 ha, but not inactive. Approximately 60% of small-area ownerships have undertaken at least one of the following activities in the previous 5 years: harvesting for personal use, treating invasive plants, reducing fire hazards, and reducing unwanted insects/diseases. While 74% of small-area ownerships rate wildlife habitat protection as an important ownership objective, only 11% have undertaken a wildlife habitat improvement project in the previous 5 years. Both small- and large- (> 4.0 ha) area ownership classes are most interested in the amenity aspects of woodland ownership, but small-area ownerships are significantly less interested in ownership for firewood, timber, recreation and hunting on their land than larger ownerships. Neither ownership class is very likely to have received professional advice about their forestland in the previous 5 years, but the percentage of small-area ownerships who have done so is half that of larger-area ownerships. Both area ownership classes want their forestland to remain forested in the future. Our findings suggest needs and opportunities to engage small-area forest landowners, but likely in different ways and on different topics than when dealing with larger-area ownerships.

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Acknowledgements

Useful reviews on earlier versions of this manuscript were provided by Eric White, Lynne Westphal and two anonymous reviewers. Any remaining errors are our own. Support for this research was provided, in part, by the USDA Forest Service Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Program and the USDA Northern Research Station. The National Woodland Owner Survey is implemented by the Family Forest Research Center, a joint venture between the USDA Forest Service and the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Northern Research Station, USDA Forest Service, St. Paul, MN, USA

    Stephanie A. Snyder

  2. Northern Research Station, USDA Forest Service, Amherst, MA, USA

    Brett J. Butler

  3. Family Forest Research Center, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, USA

    Brett J. Butler & Marla Markowski-Lindsay

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  1. Stephanie A. Snyder
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Correspondence to Stephanie A. Snyder.

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Snyder, S.A., Butler, B.J. & Markowski-Lindsay, M. Small-Area Family Forest Ownerships in the USA. Small-scale Forestry 18, 127–147 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11842-018-9410-9

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