Challenging the Traditional Forestry Extension Model: Insights from the Woods Forum Program in Massachusetts

Traditional forestry education and outreach activities tend to focus on transfer-of-knowledge, often through workshops initiated and led by professionals to “teach” landowners about forest management and conservation. Less than 10 percent of family forest owners in the US have a management plan, participated in cost-share programs, certified their forest land, or hold a conservation easement, suggesting flaws in this traditional model. Some researchers and practitioners have suggested the need for a paradigm shift away from transfer-of-knowledge to more facilitative, participatory approaches, among which peer learning has gained growing attention and is supported by a number of behavioral theories. By analyzing data from participant feedback of a peer learning pilot program in Massachusetts and a follow-up mail survey, this paper examines the perceived usefulness of peer-to-peer interactions and the effect of peer learning over time. The results suggest peer learning did not only appeal to landowners with forestry background, but also succeeded in attracting inexperienced landowners. Participants rated their peer-to-peer experience positively. The retention of information obtained through the program was reflected by participants’ ability to correctly identify foresters, land trust organizations, and reasonable sources of forestry or land management advice. Participants also shared a strong willingness to spread information obtained through peer learning. This study contributes to the identification of potential barriers to and opportunities for peer learning, informs forestry extension efforts in the US and beyond, and highlights the importance of integrating peer learning into the broader forestry education, technical assistance, and financial incentive programs to increase participation and promote sustainable forest management and conservation.     

Establishing Conservation Easements on Forested Riparian Buffers: Opportunities for Long-term Streamside Protection

Forest riparian buffers are an important means of conserving land. The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) offers financial incentives to landowners to install forested riparian buffers under 10–15 year contracts. This study explores whether Pennsylvania CREP participants who had established a riparian buffer would also place it under a permanent conservation easement. A mail questionnaire was developed and administered to 685 CREP participants. It was found that the majority of the respondents are likely to leave their buffer intact when the CREP contract expires, but are hesitant to agree to conservation easements. Property rights, education and finances are among the key issues affecting acceptance of conservation easements.     

林地地役权在物权法中的定位探究

我国《物权法》关于地役权的明确规定为确立林地地役权在物权体系中的地位奠定了法律基础。但由于林地在其存在、利用、流转过程中的特殊性,林地地役权具有了诸多不同于一般地役权的特征与权能。因此,在物权法体系的构建中,要立足地役权基本理论,同时兼顾林地地役权之特殊性,通过赋予林地地役权以普通地役权以外的开发、保护、改善以及管理等相关权能,来平衡其实现过程中经济和生态的双重价值。     

Creating Incentives for Beneficial Private Land Management in Protected Areas

Abstract

Land-use practices on private properties that abut protected areas can have a significant impact on the conservation goals of a park or reserve. In Ecuador, many of the protected areas have private properties within their boundaries, and several share buffer zones with sizeable communities. This paper (1) evaluates incentives for private landowners to assist with meeting the conservation goals of the Condor Bioreserve, and (2) makes recommendations on mechanisms and incentives that may be the most appropriate for generating a commitment from private landowners to manage for conservation values. Currently, the strategy to promote compatible management on private properties relies heavily on voluntary efforts by landowners, with only a small number of programs offering financial or material incentives in return. To create greater long-term stability in land use around protected areas, programs need to create incentives for private landowners to formalize a commitment to long-term sustainable management. We recommend (1) conservation easements and (2) conservation payments, and in special cases (3) private reserves. Solid commitments to manage private lands for conservation effectively extend protected area boundaries and allow management plans to better incorporate the ecosystem role and services that private lands provide.     

Ecosystem management and nonindustrial private forest landowners in Washington State,USA

Washington’s non-industrial private forest (NIPF) landowners control 1.2 M ha, or nearly 20%, of the forestland in Washington State. Results of a mail survey suggest that educated and informed NIPF landowners are more likely to show interest in ecosystem-based management programs. NIPF respondents in Washington State indicated an appreciation for the temporal vision and landscape perspective crucial to understanding the foundation of ecosystem management. It is concluded that public agencies need to involve private landowners in ecosystem-based projects by using a more ‘place’ based cross-boundary management approach. NIPF landowners must be actively involved in the decision-making so that the process, for them, is one of self-governance. Providing landowners with opportunities for education and assistance may offer the best prospects for achieving ecosystem management objectives across diverse ownerships     

林地承包经营权与林地地役权关系的法律探讨

对同一块林地上林地承包经营权和林地地役权并存时,可能发生的权利冲突进行探讨。提出在集体林权制度改革过程中,应当按照物权法的规定和法理,结合林地作为需役地和供役地的不同属性,妥善处理林地承包经营权在设立、流转过程中与林地地役权的关系,同时对林地地役权的期限做出合理的安排。     

Efficient and equitable forest rent capture in three pacific island nations: Opportunities and impediments in forest policy reform

Various contrasts may be observed in the way three Pacific island countries — Papua New Guinea (PNG), Solomon Islands and Vanuatu — exploit their natural forest endowments. The modes of exploitation, the efficiency of forest revenue systems and the sustainability of forest allocation mechanisms are analysed. It is argued that equity issues are also important in forest policy given that forests in all three countries are under customary tenure. The forest revenue system in PNG is criticised for being inefficient and inequitable. In the Solomons the rate of logging is found to be unsustainable, being linked to the country’s economic crisis. In Vanuatu a logging ban has stimulated timber processing, but probably at a cost to the economy, and has failed to confer sustainability on the industry. Changes to forest revenue systems and forest allocation procedures that would enhance efficiency, equity, sustainability and conservation are identified, along with impediments to these changes.     

Economies of scale in forestland acquisition costs for nature conservation

Private land trusts commonly acquire and protect forestland for nature conservation and open space preservation. When deciding where and how protection of land should be achieved (e.g., through different contracting arrangements), conservation organizations must account and plan for variation in the costs of protecting land if they are to make efficient use of the limited resources they have available. We seek to examine how the costs of protected area acquisition are affected by the size of the protected areas under a fee simple or permanent easement transaction, as well as in comparison to unprotected forest parcels. In particular, we sought to determine whether acquisition costs show economies of scale under fee simple and permanent easement transactions while controlling for the effects of other covariates and how these economies of scale are different from those of unprotected areas. We use as a case study areas acquired by The Nature Conservancy (TNC), a land trust, to protect Central and Southern Appalachian forest ecosystems of the US. We compare TNC's protected forest sites with other land transactions not purchased for conservation but that share similar characteristics as inferred by the statistical technique of propensity score matching. First, we found that fee simple transactions achieve economies of scale, whereas permanent easement transactions do not. Further, the comparison of the elasticities of acquisition costs with respect to size between the protected and unprotected areas clearly show evidence that the presence of a large conservation organization as a buyer leads to deviations from general market behavior, likely because the conservation buyer has quite different goals and preferences, including preferences tied specifically to parcel size. These differences underscore the value of further studies of this type, which focus on protected area transactions per se rather than broader market trends, if we are to account for the costs of conservation correctly when designing habitat protection programs.     

Farmlink: promoting conservation buffers farmer-to-farmer

Farmer-to-farmer outreach was used within a targeted watershed to promote the installation of conservation buffers. In this program called “FarmLink”, four farmers/landowners were employed part-time as “advisors” and trained by University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Natural Resources District personnel. Topics included basic buffer design and benefits, availability of incentive programs, and sales techniques. These individuals then contacted their neighbors to explain the need for and benefits of buffers and other conservation practices. In early 2003, 42 landowners were contacted, leading to contracts for the establishment of 16 separate conservation practices on 24.8 ha (61.3 acres) of farmland. These included just over 8 ha (20 acres) of grassed waterways or similar plantings and 14 ha (35 acres) of streamside buffers. In addition, because of information received in the training sessions, one of the advisors installed 1.7 ha (4.3 acres) of streamside buffers, 0.45 ha (1.1 acres) of grassed waterways, and 2.0 ha (5.0 acres) of grasses and forbs on his own land. During these contacts, it became apparent that: (1) many farmers and landowners were not familiar with the multitude of programs available to assist with the installation and maintenance of conservation practices; and (2) landowners generally appreciated the personal touch of someone coming out to talk directly to them, pointing out specific areas on their land where conservation practices could best be implemented, discussing available compensation programs, and describing management needed to help ensure practice success. Although one-to-one contacts cannot be used in all cases, it was demonstrated to be effective in this watershed.     

Silvopastoral Practices and the Condor Bioreserve,Ecuador

Abstract

The Condor Bioreserve initiative has the potential to serve as a model of integrated watershed management for developing countries. Within the region, landowners and settlers, government agencies and multiple non-governmental organizations face the challenge to modify land uses to best serve the tripartite goals of managing water resources, preserving critical habitat for biological conservation, and maintaining livelihoods. Livestock, especially cattle, are a valued commodity for people in the region. At the same time, increased tree cover on private land can provide many benefits such as increased income diversity, soil retention, and improved conditions for biological conservation. Silvopastoral systems can accommodate the desires of local landowners for livestock while addressing conservation goals of increased tree cover. A review of such systems and related conditions in the Bioreserve region and Ecuador is followed by reviews of other examples from the Andes region and other mountainous parts of the world. Suggestions include promoting forestry systems with fuller canopies through a rating system in park connector areas and buffer zones, local value-added timber processing, consideration of timber certification, and continuing current successes, such as extensionists promoting tree-related projects, markets for forestry products derived from private lands, community tree nurseries, and improved pastures incorporating trees.     

The effect of contrasting management types on two distinct taxonomic groups in a large-scaled windthrow

Improving ways of managing disturbed areas is in urgent need of further research. We assessed the effect of two contrasting management types—salvage logging and set aside for natural regeneration—applied to a large-scale windthrow in NE Poland on two distinct taxonomic groups of animals: scuttle flies and birds. In total, 5,368 individual scuttle flies were trapped and 1,649 individual birds were recorded. In both taxonomic groups, we recorded the “winners and losers” of the effects of salvage logging. The responses of particular species in both groups were independent of their body size. Species diversity, assessed by rarefaction, increased as a result of the logging in birds and declined in scuttle flies. The species richness, corrected for unseen species of scuttle flies and birds, was higher on the managed windthrow when compared to the natural one. Comparison of the results obtained with published data from the intact stands of Białowieża Primeval Forest suggests that salvage logging reduced the similarity of the fly and bird community to those reported from undisturbed, natural forest areas. Our results concern mostly the common species. We conclude that salvage logging has considerable influence on assemblages of common species in the post-disturbance forests. Birds and flies did not respond similarly to salvage logging in term of species diversity, although both groups included species that were attracted to either managed or unmanaged windthrow sites.     

基于GIS与多扩展接口的林地资源数据库的研究与设计

以国家林业局(原国家林业部)1996年颁《森林资源规划设计调查主要技术规定》为依据,在对云南滇西14县1988年森林二类调查的小班档案数据及林地资源管理现状进行系统研究的基础上,应用GIS技术,提出了以小班信息为核心,建立林地资源及森防、防火、营林、生物多样性GIS数据库的整体设计方案。最后讨论了生物多样性管理和保护的数据基础。     

Timber harvesting as ongoing disturbance in a landscape of diverse ownership

Although the northeastern US includes extensive areas of aggrading forest, uncertainty regarding the intensity and pattern of forest harvesting hampers an understanding of important ecological processes and characteristics such as carbon and nitrogen storage, habitat quality, and forest dynamics, and impedes regional conservation and management planning. Due to the complex ownership pattern dominated by thousands of non-industrial private forest (NIPF) owners and the difficulty of detecting selective logging using remote sensing, details of the harvesting regime remain largely unknown to the scientific and policy communities. To examine the value of statewide regulatory data for Massachusetts as a unique source of this critical information, we analyzed 17 years of timber harvest data gathered for regulatory purposes for a 168,000 ha forested landscape in Massachusetts that is the focus of concerted conservation planning and intensive study of landscape and ecosystem pattern and process. The North Quabbin Region is heavily wooded with a complicated ownership pattern dominated by over 2500 NIPF owners, three state agencies, and diverse conservation and municipal holdings.

The extent and intensity of harvesting were surprising, with an annual disturbance rate of 1.5% and a mean intensity of 44.7 m³ ha⁻¹ (approximately one-fourth of average stand volume). The predominant form of harvesting was selective removal of commercially valuable tree sizes, grades and species (e.g., Quercus rubra and Pinus strobus). The spatial pattern of logging was random with regards to major physical, biological, or cultural factors. However, logging was strongly related to landowner class. NIPF owners control 60% of the forest area and were responsible for 64.1% of harvest area, but the highest logging intensity (volume per area harvested; 69.3 m³ ha⁻¹) among major landowners was conducted by the state agency responsible for managing southern New England’s largest conservation property, the watershed of Boston’s drinking reservoir.

This regime of chronic disturbance is occurring over the entire landscape and exerting a major influence on forest composition, dynamics, and habitat quality. However, dispersed selective harvesting is largely unnoticed by residents, is routinely overlooked by ecologists and conservationists, and would remain unrecognized in the absence of this previously unused regulatory data. These results identify the value of regional regulatory spatial information to estimate ecological trends and to assist in conservation planning. Given similarities among ownership and forest patterns for much of the northeastern US, we expect that the broad findings of this study to have regional application.     

国外发展私有林主协会的启示

文中介绍了国外私有林主协会的发展状况和职能, 认为私有林主协会的产生和发展具有一定的主客观条件, 具有充分的法律依据, 协会内部管理科学, 林主协会与政府是合作关系, 协会具有降低林主生产成本、增加林主收益、提高林主生活质量、促进森林可持续经营、增加就业等作用。建议, 在我国政府不宜主导建立林主协会, 应该尊重林农意愿, 从法律和政策上规范林主协会; 对于现有的林业社会化服务组织和经济合作组织, 应该规范管理。     

Private native forest policies in New South Wales,Queensland, Victoria and Tasmania

Private native forests in Australia perform a dual production and conservation role, providing an important source of timber, and complementing formal conservation reserves. A comparison of policies for private native forests in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and Tasmania illustrates the scope for timber harvesting, the provision for environmental values, and initiatives for responsible and sustainable forest management. The sustainable management of Australia’s forests requires initiatives by both government and landowners to accommodate changes in community attitudes, new management strategies, integrated catchment management principles and both commercial and non-commercial opportunities for forest use. Of all of the Australian states, New South Wales has the most restrictive laws in terms of forest management and harvesting. Queensland and Victorian legislation have a more commercial focus, while Tasmania has a balance of both environmental and commercial objectives. The duty of care for private native forests is a responsibility that falls to the landholder, and while this should be enforced by legislation, the private provision of community benefits requires both recognition and reward. The presence or absence of incentives potentially determines the effectiveness of forest codes of practice.     

私有林采伐管理制度:发达国家经验及对我国的启示

通过对世界上8个发达国家私有林采伐制度的研究,总结其经验,对我国集体林采伐制度改革提出建议。发达国家因地制宜设计私有林采伐制度,有充分的法律依据,地方政府具有更多的私有林管理权,各国用森林可持续经营的理念来指导私有林采伐、对私有林采伐行为侧重政策引导。建议我国要坚持集体林采伐许可证制度,完善林木采伐相关法律,政府制定林业规划,林主制定森林经营方案,实行多种政策调控私有林采伐行为,加强采伐后林地更新管理,积极探索各个地区不同的私有林管理制度。     

Use and effectiveness of Washington state’s extension forest stewardship program

This paper describes the use by family forest landowners of educational programs provided by Washington State University Cooperative Extension (WSUCE), and the associated use of technical assistance programs provided by state and federal agencies and the private sector. Approximately 100,000 family forest owners controlled 19% or over 1.2 M ha of Washington’s forestland and accounted for 29% of the timber harvested in the state on a volume basis in 1998. A variety of public and private assistance and education programs are available to encourage and help family forest owners manage their forests. In 1999 a mail survey was conducted to evaluate use and effectiveness of Washington’s family forest assistance and education programs. Over half of the 872 responding family forest landowners had contact with an extension educator, program or educational material, and about three quarters of these respondents gave an overall rating of the usefulness of extension programs and materials as good or excellent. Respondents attending WSUCE forestry educational programs have larger median land ownership size, are older, have owned their forests longer, have a higher rate of absentee ownership, and are better educated than non-users. They are more likely to actively manage their forests for timber production and exhibit a clearer understanding of the multiple-use capabilities of their forests.     

Tropical Forest Management in the Asia-Pacific Region

Tropical deforestation in the Asia-Pacific Region has accelerated in Lhe last decade, seriously depleting the forest resource base. Most forest loss results from agricultural clearing, but is generally preceded by forest degradation from destructive logging (Southeast Asia) or overuse of forest resources (South Asia). Tropical forests are highly variable, requiring a system of classification to guide management objectives; one such system is ecological life zone mapping. Forestry operations should reflect the need for both conservation and production. Most Asia-Pacific forests are managed on variations of a selection system. Logging damage is the most important forestry-sector threat to commercial forestry, reducing both future timber production and the availability of non-timber products. The short duration of logging concession agreements, nontransferability of concession contracts, and undervaluation of forest resources all contribute to forest "mining" practices. Alternative forest management methods exist: logging damage can be substantially reduced at little or no additional cost; small-scale mobile sawmills can increase local incomes while reducing the need for skidding; and Assisted Natural Regeneration can facilitate the reforestation of denuded lands. The best hope for sustainable use of forest resources lies with those who must live with the consequences of forest mismanagement. Local involvement in foresy planning, implementation and enforcement is essential. Successful forest management projects depend on the judgement of field-based personnel familiar with the forests, cultures and institutions of each country, working in cooperation with local forestry experts and forest-dependent people.     

Landowner Willingness to Engage in Long-Term Timber Leases in West Virginia,USA

As global competition increases for wood-based products, the need for more efficient supply chains becomes increasingly important. In the forest products sector, these supply chains involve individuals and firms ranging from private forestland owners with standing timber to factories producing final finished products. Long-term timber leases are one mechanism that can be used to develop access to timber supplies for companies unable or unwilling to purchase land outright for growing timber. To investigate private forest owner opinions and attitudes regarding long-term timber leases, we conducted a survey of landowners from Wetzel county, West Virginia. No long-term leases were reported by respondents, but 24% claimed they would enter a lease under certain conditions. The most frequently listed concern related to long-term timber leases was for the “loss of control”. Results of this survey are discussed in the light of forest management efforts that might be used to improve the social, financial, and environmental benefits for private forest owners.