Understanding and Reaching Family Forest Owners

1. Understanding and ReachingFamily Forest Owners Brett J. ButlerU.S. Forest Service Northeastern Area Association of State Foresters Forest Resource Planning Committee Annual Meeting June 7-9, 2011 Portsmouth, NH

2. Conclusions • Family forest owners rule! • Size matters • Beauty, privacy, nature, and legacy • To manage or not to manage? • They’re a bunch of old guys • Family forest owners don’t own forests

3. Pop Quiz

4. Who is this? • William McKinley • Teddy Roosevelt • Eleanor Roosevelt • Smokey Bear

5. Who is this? • Walt Whitman • Henry David Thoreau • John Muir • Teddy Roosevelt

6. Who is this? • The first chief of the U.S. Forest Service • Gifford Pinchot • The former governor of Pennsylvania • All of the above

7. Who is this? • John W. Weeks • John E. Weeks • John W. Weeks • Edgar Weeks

8. What do these people have in common? Catalysts of Forest Conservation

9. Pop Quiz

10. According to 1,000 likely voters: who owns most of the forests in the U.S.? • U.S. Government • Forest industry • Family forest owners

11. Forest Ownership U.S. Northern U.S. U.S. Forest Service, National Woodland Owner Survey

13. Forest Conservation: The Next Phase

14. Who are family forest owners?

15. National Woodland Owner Survey Conducted by the U.S. Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis program To better understand: • Who the landowners are • Why they own land • How they have used it • How they intend to use it

16. National Woodland Owner Survey • Family Forests Owners of the United States, 2006 (NRS-GTR-27) • NWOS Table Maker • www.fia.fs.fed.us/nwos

17. Size Matters

18. Size of Family Forest HoldingsNorthern U.S., 2006 U.S. Forest Service, National Woodland Owner Survey

19. Size Matters U.S. Forest Service, National Woodland Owner Survey

20. Beauty, Privacy,Nature & Legacy

21. Family Forest Ownership ObjectivesNorthern U.S., 2006 U.S. Forest Service, National Woodland Owner Survey

22. Family Forest Ownership ObjectivesNorthern U.S., 2006 U.S. Forest Service, National Woodland Owner Survey

23. To Manage or Not to Manage – That is the Question

24. Management of Family Forests • Timber harvesting 53% of family forestland • Forest management plan 16% of family forestland • Management advice 31% of family forestland U.S. Forest Service, National Woodland Owner Survey

25. They’re a Bunch of Old Guys

26. Demographics of Family Forest Owners Age: 40% 65 or older Occupation: 49% retired Gender: 86% male Race: 98% white Education: 34% college degree U.S. Forest Service, National Woodland Owner Survey

27. Plans for Family Forestland U.S. Forest Service, National Woodland Owner Survey

28. Concerns • Property taxes • Family legacy • Trespassing • Insects and plant diseases • Dumping/vandalism U.S. Forest Service, National Woodland Owner Survey

29. How do we reach them?

30. Pop Quiz

31. Who is this? • Woodsy Owl • Smokey Bear • Connie Fir • Santa Claus

32. Sustaining Family Forests Initiative A collaboration among government, industry, conservation, certifications, landowner, and academics organizations Our goal is to conduct social marketing research: • That will serve as a wide-ranging resource • To aid in the development of outreach and services Sustaining Family Forests Initiative

33. Social Marketing Selling ideas, not products Examples: • Anti-smoking • Mothers Against Drunk Driving • Smokey Bear Sustaining Family Forests Initiative

34. Social Marketing A program designed to promote a voluntary change in behavior by a target audience for personal and social benefit • Three components: • Research • Attitudinal segmentation • Prime prospects • Focus groups • Campaign • Evaluation (behavior change?) Sustaining Family Forests Initiative

35. Attitudinal Segmentation • Woodland retreat • Supplemental income • Working the land • Uninvolved Sustaining Family Forests Initiative

36. Attitudinal SegmentationNorthern U.S., 2006 Sustaining Family Forests Initiative

37. Favorable attitudes towardstewardship Unfavorableattitudes toward stewardship ModelOwners Engaged in land management PotentialDefectors Prime Prospects Write-offs? Unengaged in land management Prime Prospects Segmentation Sustaining Family Forests Initiative

38. Prime Prospects Segmentation Northern U.S., 2006 Sustaining Family Forests Initiative

39. Prime Prospects and Attitudinal SegmentationsNorthern U.S., 2006 Percent of Forestland Sustaining Family Forests Initiative

40. Online NewsMedia Partnerships PSA/Advertising Events CelebritySightings Retail DirectMail Social Marketing: “Surround Sound” Communications Fleishman-Hillard, Inc.

41. Richard Scarry Words Matter • Very few forest owners own any forest • Trees, Woods, Wildlife Sustaining Family Forests Initiative

42. Dr. Seuss Words Matter • What is forestry, foresters and loggers? Sustaining Family Forests Initiative

43. Words Matter • Terms like stewardship, sustainable management, and forest health are not part of their regular vernacular • They do not strongly differentiate between conservation and preservation Sustaining Family Forests Initiative

44. Group Membership Sustaining Family Forests Initiative

45. General Information Sources Sustaining Family Forests Initiative

46. Preferred Methods for ReceivingForest Management Information U.S. Forest Service, National Woodland Owner Survey

47. Communication Messages Do • Target • Hit hot button issues • Stress options • Use their words Don’t • Be preachy • Go global Sustaining Family Forests Initiative

48. Pilot Study: Call Before You Cut http://callb4ucut.com/