Sharing Landowner Research with Forestry Professionals

For forestry professionals advising forest landowners on the care of their land, mutual trust and understanding are key to successful working relationships. On September 27, 2023, Allyson B. Muth, Ed.D., Director of the Finley Center was invited to share the Center’s insights into forest landowners with attendees at the Western Pennsylvania Consulting & Industrial Forester Conference.

Housed within the College of Agricultural Sciences at Penn State, the Finley Center is nationally recognized for its research-based knowledge of private forest landowners and their relationships with their woods. The insights presented were drawn from a recently completed survey of private forest landowners across the state. Center Ph.D. candidate Sasha Soto is responsible for the survey project as part of her research. This is the fourth large statewide survey that researchers from the Finley Center have conducted. The survey builds on upon the work of the Center’s late co-founder, Dr. Jim Finley, a pioneering academic scholar interested in both forestry practice and fostering connections between individuals, communities, and the natural world around them. Findings from the survey will provide a range of professionals, policy makers, landowners, and the public with insights into landowners’ perspectives and practices and how they have changed over the past decade.

The Center’s research continues to show that landowners own their forestland for emotional rather than economic reasons—for wildlife, for solitude, for beauty, and for enjoyment. Eighty-six percent (86%) of survey respondents felt that their fellow humans should have more love, admiration, and respect for forests. Seventy-eight percent (78%) recognize that some forest management is necessary.

Consulting and industry foresters play an important role in bridging the gap between forest landowners’ goals for their land and the practices that enable landowners to realize their vision. Findings from the Center’s survey will contribute to meaningful dialogue among the professionals and landowners who share a desire to protect the health of PA’s privately owned forests.

This most recent survey was made possible due to grants from the PA DCNR Bureau of Forestry and the USDA Forest Service, which collaborate extensively with the Center on its efforts to understand, inform, and inspire private forest landowners.

The conference was hosted by the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), the Pennsylvania Forestry Association (PFA), and the Pennsylvania Tree Farm Program.