Family forest owner’s make-up approximately 60, 58, and 43 percent of all forest owners in Alabama, the Southeast, and the United States, respectively. Therefore, family forest owners are critical to maintaining forest health and productivity. The majority of family forest owners do not have a written forest management plan nor have they received management advice. Due to a combination of shift in ownership and land degradation, timberland is being separated into smaller tracts and management is likely deficient as smaller tracts are less likely to have a management plan or received forest management advice.
To assess the perceptions of family forest landowners in Alabama about alternative income generating opportunities on their lands and to better understand their motivation or lack thereof for managing their forestland a questionnaire was developed and mailed to a stratified random sample of 1,000 family forest owners in Alabama. Specific aims are to better understand how revenue generating sources are managed, asses’ forest owners’ views on the financial aspects and markets for such sources, recognize issues and concerns these forest owners have, and to better understand their forest management philosophy.
Results/Conclusions
To-date, 198 responses have been received. Acreage owned ranged from 5 acres to 8,000 acres with the largest percentage of respondents (25%) owning between 10 and 50 acres. Timber production, hunting/fishing, and land investment were the top reasons for owning forestland. Sixty percent of respondents reported that they currently do not generate income from their forestland. However, over 80 percent of respondents stated they are interested in doing so. Of those that have generated income, 23 percent stated it comes from means other than timber with hunting/fishing lease income as the top non-timber method. The majority of respondents do not have a written management plan nor have they received management advice. Most are interested in managing their forestland but indicate they are not sure what to do. These results propose that many landowners want alternative ways to generate income from their forestland and are aware of the importance of management. However, they lack the education and experience needed to take the next steps in addressing the “what?” and “how?” questions. Further, these results highlight the importance of connecting them with professionals to assist in making management decisions.