Jaketon H. Hewes

USDA Forest Service National Woodland Owner Survey: national, regional, and state statistics for family forest and woodland ownerships with 10+ acres, 2011-2013

This report summarizes the results from the 2011-2013 National Woodland Owner Survey (NWOS) conducted by the U.S. Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis program. The focus of the results reported here is family forest and woodland ownerships with holdings of at least 10 acres. Summaries are based on responses from 8,576 family ownerships with at least 10 acres of forest or woodland across 47 U.S. states. Survey summary tables are available at dx.doi.org/10.2737/NRS-RB-99 and include the 36 states in which the minimum target effective sample size of 100 respondents was obtained plus tables for the nation and four regions (North, South, Rocky Mountain, and Pacific Coast). An additional 11 states (Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, and Washington) have sample sizes between 10 and 99 and are included in national and regional summary tables, but state- level survey summary tables are not being published due to small sample sizes. Data for three states (Alaska, Nevada, and Wyoming) are excluded due to the low numbers of respondents (n<10) in each of these states. The survey summary tables provide statistics on general forest ownership patterns, effective sample sizes, and responses to the questions asked on the survey. The 37 survey questions, many with multiple parts, focus on ownership characteristics, land characteristics, reasons for owning land, land ownership history, uses of the forest and woodland, sources of information, concerns, the future of their land, and demographics. For comparison purposes, summary tables from the 2002-2006 iteration of the NWOS are provided along with an additional set of 2011-2013 regional and national summary tables where only states in common with the 2002-2006 iteration are included. In addition, this report includes separate tables with estimated area and estimated number of private, nonindustrial private, and family forest and woodland ownerships by state.

Family Forest Owners' Perceptions of Landowner Assistance programs in the USA: A Qualitative Exploration of Program Impacts on Behaviour

Using data collected from a series of focus groups, this study examines how landowner assistance programs (which may include management plans, cost-share, technical assistance and advice, and education components) affect family forest owner behaviour in the USA. Not surprisingly, most owners who participated in assistance programs had pre-existing management objectives. Participation in the management plan and cost-share components was found to facilitate the stewardship of private forests by assisting and reinforcing the behaviour of those landowners who already intend to manage their land in some pre-conceived manner. Advice and educational components appeared to do more in terms of introducing owners to new ideas. The mix of components offered as part of a landowner assistance program should consider the goals of the program and which components will be most effective in achieving those goals.

Map of distribution of six forest ownership types in the conterminous United States

This map depicts the spatial distribution of ownership types across forest land in the conterminous United States circa 2009. The distribution is derived, in part, from Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) data that are collected at a sample intensity of approximately one plot per 2400 ha across the United States (U.S. Forest Service 2012). Ownership categories were mapped to the landscape using Thiessen polygons, and a forest/nonforest mask was applied to limit ownership portrayal to forested areas (Butler et al. 2014). Inset maps depict states by the percentage of forest land held by owner type indicated. States that appear darker do not necessarily have more forested land of a particular type than other states, but rather have a greater percentage of their forested land in a given ownership type.

Methods for Increasing Cooperation Rates for Surveys of Family Forest Owners

To maximize the representativeness of results from surveys, coverage, sampling, nonresponse, measurement, and analysis errors must be minimized. Although not a cure-all, one approach for mitigating nonresponse errors is to maximize cooperation rates. In this study, personalizing mailings, token financial incentives, and the use of real stamps were tested for their impacts on cooperation rates for family forest owners asked to participate in the U.S. Forest Service’s National Woodland Owner Survey in the state of Connecticut. Token financial incentives, a two-dollar bill included in the first questionnaire mailing, significantly increased cooperation rates by 13 percentage points. Neither personalization nor real stamps showed significant impacts on cooperation rates. While these results are for just one state in the USA, we hypothesize that similar patterns would be observed in other states and likely other countries.

USDA Forest Service National Woodland Owner Survey, 2011-2013: design, implementation, and estimation methods

The National Woodland Owner Survey (NWOS) is conducted by the U.S. Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis program to increase the understanding of the attitudes, behaviors, and demographics of private forest and woodland ownerships across the United States. The information is intended to help policy makers, resource managers, educators, service providers, and others interested in the forest and woodland resources of the United States better understand the social context of these lands in order to facilitate more informed opinions and decisions. This report describes the design, implementation, and analysis of data for the NWOS implemented from 2011 through 2013. The NWOS is concerned with three non-overlapping populations of interest: family, corporate, and other private. To simplify the discussion, the focus of this report is on family forest and woodland ownerships, but identical methods were used for the other populations of interest. Results from this research are being published separately. For additional information visit: www.fia.fs.fed.us/nwos. See also dx.doi.org/10.2737/NRS-GTR-157.