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

Abstract

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 estimation methods 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.

Statistics and quality assurance for the Northern Research Station Forest Inventory and Analysis Program, 2016

“…Results from the NWOS on private forest ownerships are available in Butler et al (2016b). Details about NWOS sampling design, estimates, and analysis procedures are available in Butler et al (2016a). These materials and other information pertaining to the NWOS can be accessed at www.fia.fs.fed.us/nwos.…”

“…The goal of the NWOS is to increase our understanding of the diverse and dynamic group of owners that is the least understood-families, individuals, and other unincorporated groups, collectively referred to as "family forest owners" (Butler et al 2016a). Specifically, the NWOS addresses the following questions:…”

Supplemental Notes on National Woodland Owner Survey 2011-2013 Two-page Summary Reports

“…As a consequence, the 2002-2006 have been reprocessed and are published in Butler et al 2016b. Additional notes on making comparisons are included in Butler et al 2016a, as the wording and/or formatting of some questions changed.…”

“…These uncertainties are presented in terms of the standard errors, abbreviated as SE and depicted as error bars in the charts. Detailed information about the sampling and estimation techniques can be found in Butler et al 2016a. Comparisons to the previous, 2002-2006, NWOS results (Butler 2008 should be made with caution. Butler (2008) reported statistics for family forest ownerships, inaccurately labeled owners, with 1+ acres of forest land and the 2011-2013 data focus on family forest ownerships with 10+ acres.…”

National Woodland Owner Survey: family forest ownerships with 1 to 9 acres, 2011-2013.

“…An abbreviated description of the methods is provided, with full details available in Butler et al (2016a). The interpretation of the results and comparative analyses of 1-9 acre ownerships to 10+ acre ownerships will appear in a forthcoming publication.…”