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1 Key Findings

· Private timberlands in the South are held in over 4.9 million tracts. The number of private ownerships is increasing and tract sizes are decreasing.

· In 1994, two-thirds of all private timberland tracts were less than 10 acres in size, but accounted for only 4 percent of the total private timberland acreage. Tracts over 500 acres represented nearly half the total private acreage.

· Southern nonindustrial private forest (NIPF) owners have widely diverse ownership use and management objectives, beliefs, values, and interests.

· Primary reasons for NIPF ownership in the South include rural area residence, land investment growth, farm or domestic use, enjoyment of natural resources, estate purposes, and outdoor recreation.

· Although representing a small percentage of all private timberland owners, owners interested primarily in timber production make management decisions for over one-third of all private timberland.

· Available research information does not allow the description of an "average" private southern forest land owner.

· Factors that can influence the ways in which private owners manage their land include income, personal values, tract size, residence, long-term plans, knowledge of alternative management options and benefits, taxation policies, and government assistance programs.

· Research information about objectives or behaviors of subgroups of the general southern NIPF population is limited and inconclusive, except for those who have participated in government cost-sharing programs.

Little research information is available about owner corporations, partnerships, clubs, and other entities, including timber investment and management organizations (TIMO's). Nonindustrial corporate owners control 11 percent of the South's total private timberland acreage. Forest industries control 21 percent of the total private acreage.
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· In 1994, 1.4 million private owners had intentions to harvest timber on over 112 million acres within the following decade. The less than 1 percent of owners holding tracts larger than 500 acres controlled 65 percent of the timberland intended for harvest.

· In 1994, private owners who indicated they would never harvest timber from their land controlled only 12 percent of the total private timberland acreage.

· Government cost-sharing programs have assisted a small percentage of the total NIPF owner population. They seem to be most popular with owners interested in timber and wildlife production. Related motivational factors include management costs, available capital, taxes, and resource commodity values.

· Many southerners, including forest landowners, feel that private property rights are important, but secondary to environmental protection needs.

2 Introduction

The South's 215 million acres of forest land are among the most productive in the Nation. About 201 million acres of this land are classed as "timberland," capable of producing at least 20 cubic feet of industrial wood each year and not withdrawn from timber utilization. Private holdings account for about 89 percent of the total timberland acreage. The major private owner groups are nonindustrial private forest (NIPF) owners and forest industry owners. NIPF owners alone control 79 percent of the total private timberland acreage. How the South's private forests are used and managed will have important impacts on future supplies of forest-resource-related goods, services, and benefits. Identifying and understanding the characteristics of private owners and the major factors that may influence land use and management will be important to the development of effective owner assistance programs, as well as for predicting future resource conditions.