Woodlots in the rural landscape: landowner motivations and management attitudes in a Michigan (USA) case study

Abstract

Woodlots provide important environmental benefits in the Midwestern (USA) landscape, where they are undergoing rapid change. An increasingly diverse farm and non-farm population owns these non-industrial private forests (NIPFs). It is essential to understand what motivates NIPF landowners to retain and manage their forests. We describe a study of NIPF owners in an agricultural watershed where forest cover is increasing. What motivations and management practices might be contributing to this increase? The results of a survey of 112 NIPF owners suggest that aesthetic appreciation is the strongest motivator for retaining woodlots, especially by non-farmers. Protecting the environment also seems to be important for both farmers and non-farmers, while economic motivations are significantly less important. Landowners indicated that they are primarily taking a ''hands-off'' approach to management. This study provides insights for those interested in understanding NIPF landowners' motivations and for developing effective programs.

Variability of cutting regimes in small private woodlots of south-western France

“…In any case, a great deal of respect and a good sense of communication are essential for this type of work. In order to understand the motivations of the owners it was necessary to move away from standardised surveys and to adopt a qualitative approach [5], by proceeding with semi-directive interviews in the home and with field visits [30] rather than by phone [31], mail or e-mail [15,23].…”

“…The notions developed by large-scale forestry -the foundation of modern forestry -such as the division into management units, inventories, planning documents, etc., do not apply for small-sized woodlots which are, as a general rule, free from regulatory obligations [17]. Only some North American [4,15,25] and Scandinavian [23,29,32] studies have examined the management of small-sized properties (20−30 ha) with respect to the average surface areas in those regions, but which are nevertheless large in comparison with what is found on southern Europe. Due to a lack of information, and also in the face of the apparent complexity of the practices of owners of small private forests, management is often quickly qualified as opportunistic [8] and does not seem to satisfy any particular logic [18,20,24,28].…”

Determinants, attitudes and willingness of private forest owners to produce goods and services: a review of the international literature

“…I secondi, invece, sono motivati da: (i) ragioni di privacy; (ii) il fatto che la proprietà forestale sia nella loro area di residenza; (iii) i valori estetici; (iv) la protezione della biodiversità; (v) la possibilità di svolgere attività ricreative in bosco, tra cui caccia e pesca. Per Erickson et al (2002), piuttosto che le motivazioni economiche, i valori estetici sono la principale motivazione che spinge i proprietari (soprattutto i nonfarmers) ad intraprendere attività forestali in aree rurali-agricole, dove il bosco è in espansione. Inoltre, sia per i farmers che per i non-farmers è importante anche la conservazione dell'ambiente.…”

“…• applicazioni di analisi statistica multivariata (analisi fattoriale, cluster analysis, analisi delle componenti principali e altre) impiegate principalmente per ottenere le tipologie di classificazione dei proprietari forestali (Greene & Blatner 1986, Kuuluvainen et al 1996, Karppinen 1998a, Erickson et al 2002, Boon et al 2010 degli stessi, impiegati allo scopo di identificare i fattori determinanti dei comportamenti e delle attitudini gestionali ed ambientali dei proprietari (Jamnick & Beckett 1987, Romm et al 1987, Løy-land et al 1995, Lidestav & Ekström 2000, Størdal et al 2008, Joshi & Arano 2009, Boon et al 2010, Markowski-Lindsay et al 2011, Ficko & Boncina 2013); • modelli di scelta discreta, utilizzati per individuare la disponibilità ad accettare compensazioni monetarie volte a determinare un cambiamento positivo nel comportamento dei NIPFs nei confronti delle tematiche ambientali (Kline et al 2000, Horne 2006, Vedel et al 2013). …”

Tasmanian landowner preferences for conservation incentive programs: A latent class approach

“…More recently, however, many economic studies have found that both land ownership and management are strongly related to these non-economic variables (e.g. Erickson, Ryan et al 2002;Jennings and van Putten 2003). These variables, which are now recognised as potentially having a significant impact on management decisions and participation rates, cannot be easily encompassed in a strict profit maximising framework.…”