Minority and Limited Resource Landowners and Forests in the South: Developing a Research Agenda

John Schelhas, Southern Research Station

Robert Zabawa, G.W. Carver Agricultural Experiment Station

In spite of the great socio-economic importance of forests in the South, we still know relatively little about the relationships between forests and minority and limited resource landowners.  A social science research program in this area has been developed by the Alabama Consortium on Forestry Research and Education, beginning in 1993.  Consortium research is addressing questions related to: (a) the rural development needs of minority landowners and communities, and how these might be addressed by forest-related rural enterprises, (b) the relationship between shifting land use patterns (agriculture to forestry), the emergence of a globalized economy, and minority land ownership and use in the South, (c) the relationships between public and private forest lands; (d) ways in which government and non-governmental forest related outreach and assistance programs can better meet the needs of minority and limited resource landowners.  These research efforts will help enable the development of new outreach efforts that help minority landowners and communities interact with and/or benefit from: (a) the National Forests and other public lands; (b) production activities of private small-scale forest landowners; (c) value-added forest-related industries; and (d) forest-related educational programs at the land grant institutions.  This paper will provide a summary of current information on the relationship between minority and limited resource landowners and forests in Alabama and the Mid-South, drawing on completed consortium research projects and other sources.  After highlighting gaps in our knowledge, a preliminary strategic research agenda will be presented.

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Sustaining
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