The Diverse Values and Motivations of Family Forest Owners in the United States: An Analysis of an Open-ended Question in the National Woodland Owner Survey |
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Authors: | David N Bengston Stanley T Asah Brett J Butler |
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Institution: | (1) Northern Research Station, USDA Forest Service, 1992 Folwell Avenue, Saint Paul, MN 55108, USA;(2) School of Forest Resources, College of the Environment, University of Washington, 201 Anderson Hall, Box 352100, Seattle, WA 98195-2100, USA;(3) Forest Inventory and Analysis, Northern Research Station, USDA Forest Service, 160 Holdsworth Way, Amherst, MA 01003, USA |
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Abstract: | The number of family forest owners in the USA has increased continuously in recent decades, and the fate of much of US forests
lies in the hands of this diverse and dynamic group of people. The National Woodland Owner Survey (NWOS) is a recurring and
comprehensive national survey of US private forest owners, including family forest owners. The NWOS includes an open-ended
question that explores forest owners’ motivations and values related to their woodland. The open-ended question format allows
respondents to express their own frame of reference in their own words, rather than respond to predetermined, fixed-response
categories of motivations. This paper describes the system of values and motivations that emerged from analysis of responses
to the open-ended question, and compares these findings to a closed-ended, fixed-response question also included in the NWOS.
Diverse and multidimensional motives were expressed by respondents. Eight broad categories and 37 sub-categories of motives
and values emerged from analysis of the open-ended question. The fixed categories of the closed-ended question failed to capture
many dimensions of forest owner motivations. A more detailed, qualitative understanding of forest owner motivations and values
is needed to provide extension foresters and others who work with family forest owners important insights and help guide public
policy related to private forestland. Open-ended survey questions can help provide such understanding. |
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