Adoption of Woodland Management Practices by Private Forest Owners in Virginia

Sustainable management of private forests is a key issue to ensure sound rural economics and a flow of ecosystem benefits. Logistic regression models for the adoption of woodland management practices by Virginia private forest owners were developed, and they correctly classified between 66 and 89% of the cases. Separate models were developed for specific practices that improve forest health and productivity or protection and general practices associated with any type of rural landownership, such as surveying property boundary lines. For specific practices, adoption was most influenced by the use of technical assistance, followed by use of a written management plan, economic motivations, and attendance at educational programs. Probabilities of adoption ranged from 3% for forest owners who did not have any technical assistance nor used a management plan and had low economic motivations to 70% for owners who had technical assistance, used a management plan, and had high economic motivation. The general management practices were adopted at a higher rate (from 51 to 99%) and were predicted by landowners' use of financial assistance, recreational motivations, and economic motivations. FOR. SCI. 56(5):444-452.