Equitable regulation of private forests

Abstract

The sustainability of forested ecosystems often requires cross-boundary management at large spatial scales. This can be challenging, however, in landscapes where forests are primarily under small-scale, private ownership. Consequently, in many areas of the world private forest practices are governmentally regulated to promote more consistent cross-boundary outcomes and better protection of largescale ecological integrity. In this qualitative, 'grounded theory' study, 109 stakeholders throughout the State of Washington, USA were interviewed to learn their perspectives about processes and effects of private forest regulation. The State of Washington is widely recognized for its long-established and comprehensive forest regulatory policies and thus provides an excellent study area for this topic. Interviewees included private forest owners, forest policy advisors, regulatory agency employees, and representatives from forest ownership organizations, forest industry trade groups, and environmental organizations. The study revealed an important and often poorly recognized outcome of private forest regulatory policy: regulation rarely affects all private forest owners similarly. Instead, the burdens and advantages of regulation tend to be unevenly distributed within this key stakeholder group. The study identified three phenomena producing these inequitable outcomes: natural landscape variability, oversights in policy design, and disparate interests and goals among forest owners. This paper analyzes these causes, identifies solution pathways, and discusses implications for policy-makers.