Studies of Family Forest Owners in the USA: A Systematic Review of Literature from 2000 through 2019

In the USA, there are an estimated 9.6 million families, individuals, trusts, estates, and family partnerships, collectively referred to as family forest owners, who control 110 million ha of forestland or 39% of the country’s forests. Between 2000 and 2019, 640 peer-reviewed articles were published that focused on family forest owners in the USA. These articles were published across 95 sources with the Journal of Forestry, Forest Policy and Economics, Small-scale Forestry, and Journal of Extension being the most common. Most articles focused on geographic or participatory subsets of family forest owners with many doing cross-subset comparisons, such as between program participants and non-participants. Quantitative methods, and in particular surveys, were the most common data collection techniques, but qualitative, simulation, and synthesis approaches were also applied. Theoretical frameworks were scant across most studies with behavioral change models being the most common frameworks among those studies that did explicitly include one. Forest management and policies and programs were the most common topics, but the relative frequency of topics changed over time with topics such as forest management decreasing and legacy increasing. Much has been learned about family forest owners, but there is still much that is unknown. Harmonization across studies could help to increase comparisons and allow for drawing of broader conclusions. Continuing to borrow ideas from other fields and stronger incorporation of theoretical frameworks could also help further this scientific field, but it is also important that attention is paid to the implications of the research to ensure it has the greatest possible impact on the threats and challenges facing family forests.