Examining private forest policy preferences

Abstract

Policy tools are employed to effect changes in the behaviors of citizens. Policy tools, such as incentives and regulation, act as the medium through which the target population may comply with policy objectives; however, policymakers must choose carefully which policy tools to adopt. Given the predominance of privately-owned forestland in Indiana and the United States, this research explores forest policy tool preferences of family forest owners in southern Indiana. The research is based on data from 309 respondents to a mail survey of landowners in 32 southern Indiana counties. The research objectives were 1) to determine what factors influence policy preferences among family forest owners and 2) to make recommendations to policymakers regarding what policy approaches are best suited to differing landowner types. Regression analyses identify landowner attitudes as significant predictors of policy preferences and also identified both absentee and riparian forest owners as more supportive of private forest policies. Based upon the results, recommendations to private forest policymakers are made. Published by Elsevier B.V.

From the small woodland problem to ecosocial systems: the evolution of social research on small-scale forestry in Sweden and the USA

“…In the USA many owners exhibit a tendency to be independent and skeptical of experts and traditional sources of forestry information (Rickenbach et al, 2005). Recent studies point out the limited appeal of traditional education and assistance strategies to owners that are not focused on long-term family legacy and financial investment goals (Rickenbach et al, 2005;Janota & Broussard, 2008). Instead, interpersonal communication, especially between trusted peers, is well recognized as an important channel of management advice for family forest owners (Rogers, 1983;West et al, 1988;Jacobson, 2002;Brook et al, 2003).…”

“…According to Berlin et al (2006), owners who participate in these associations more often live and work on their forest properties and earn greater portions of their incomes from forestry than those who are not associated. In the USA, much research has explored the independence of family forest owners, with multiple explanatory factors suggested, including concerns about privacy Janota & Broussard, 2008), autonomy, property rights (Fischer & Bliss, 2009), wariness of regulatory and administrative burden (Bergmann & Bliss, 2004;Fischer & Bliss, 2006, 2009, a lack of institutions that facilitate cooperation (Wolf & Hufnagl-Eichiner, 2007) and a general lack of trust in government (e.g. Rickenbach & Reed, 2002;Bergmann & Bliss, 2004;Rickenbach et al, 2005).…”

The Drop-off and Pick-up Method: An Approach to Reduce Nonresponse Bias in Natural Resource Surveys

“…Self-completion questionnaires are often used by forestry researchers as a means to obtain information from woodland owners for purposes of understanding decisionmaking behavior, evidence of program impact, attitudes, policy perspectives, or behavioral intention (for example, Butler and Leatherberry 2004;Skelton et al 2005;Finley et al 2006;Jennings and van Putten 2006;Janota and Broussard 2008). However, a common concern with data collection via self-completion mail questionnaires is nonresponse bias due to low response rates and non-coverage error associated with failure to include eligible households in the sampling frame.…”

Adoption factors for green brick innovation: an empirical study of consumers in India

“…Subsequently the identified factors are subjected to multiple regression analysis. The method is used in various studies, for example, Tobler et al (2012) and Janota and Broussard (2008), to examine the effects of identified factors on dependent variable. This study involves three stages: semi-structured interview, pilot study and questionnaire survey.…”