Exploring the availability of Ontario's non-industrial private forest lands for recreation and forestry activities

Abstract

Privately owned forest lands contribute significant amounts of land for wood supply and recreational opportunities in various parts of Canada including areas within Ontario. The decisions that landowners make about permitting various activities on their lands can impact resource managers and current and potential users of forested environments. In this study, the willingness of Ontario's nonindustrial private forest landowners to conduct forest harvesting and to permit hunting and wildlife recreational opportunities is examined. The study explores whether the willingness of landowners with large-sized landholdings (i.e., minimum 20 ha) is influenced by characteristics that describe the private lands and the owners of these private lands. The results show that trends towards land parcelization, afforestation and loss of agricultural lands may impact the availability of lands for forest harvesting and hunting. The models also suggest that northern Ontario landowners may make different decisions about conducting forest harvesting or permitting hunting on their lands than do southern Ontario landowners.Keywords: non-industrial private forest landowners, forest harvesting, hunting, wildlife viewing, land parcelization Les forêts privées représentent des superficies importantes de territoires pour l'approvisionnement en bois et les possibilités d'activités récréatives dans diverses régions du Canada, y compris l'Ontario. Les décisions que les propriétaires prennent en permettant la tenue de diverses activités sur leurs terrains peuvent avoir un impact sur les aménagistes des ressources et sur les utilisateurs potentiels des environnements forestiers. Cette étude examine la volonté des propriétaires de boisés privés non-industriels de l'Ontario d'entreprendre des activités de récoltes de bois et de permettre la chasse et des activités récréatives touchant la faune. Cette étude cherche à savoir si cette volonté des propriétaires possédant de grandes superficies (par ex. un minimum de 20 ha) est influencée par les caractéristiques qui décrivent les forêts privées et les propriétaires de ces forêts privées. Les résultats indiquent que les tendances vers le morcellement des forêts, le déboisement et la perte de terres agricoles pourraient avoir un impact sur la disponibilité des forêts pour la récolte de bois et la chasse. Le modèle laisse entendre que les propriétaires du nord de l'Ontario semblent prendre des déci-sions différentes relativement à la réalisation de la récolte de bois ou au droit de chasse sur leurs forêts par rapport aux propriétaires du sud de l'Ontario.Mots-clés : propriétaires de boisés privés non-industriels, récolte de bois, chasse, observation de la faune, morcellement du territoire

Landowner responses to financial incentive schemes for recreational access to woodlands in South East England

“…In conclusion, Hunt (2002) also notes that the approach adopted in his study of presenting owners with a dichotomous choice of allowing or not allowing recreation was too simplistic. He notes that a more subtle understanding is found in the work of Wright et al (1998) who in an examination of the decisions by Texas landowners to permit hunting suggest that owners in terms of what they permit can be placed on a continuum from open conditions through restrictive and exclusive measures to complete prohibition.…”

“…land residency) and regional location on owner decisions to allow hunting or wildlife viewing. The conclusions reveal the complexities of understanding recreational access decisions and Hunt (2002) argues that the Study provided evidence that the willingness of landowners with large-sized holdings to consider allowing forest harvesting and hunting on their lands were partially explainable by characteristics of the private lands and the landowners. The willingness of landowners to consider permitting wildlife viewing on their lands, however was not at all explainable by these same factors (p. 855).…”

“…Hunt (2002) notes that little attention has been paid to other decisions facing landowners such as whether to permit recreational activities and what research does exist has mainly been undertaken in the United States of America. In a quantitative study of 847 larger woodland owners in Ontario Canada Hunt (2002) considered the influence of demographic characteristics (e.g. age), ownership patterns (e.g.…”

“…In addition, attempts to explain differences in NIPF owner management styles (and thus responses to incentive and other schemes) have identified the influence of a range of ownership and demographic characteristics (Uliczka et al, 2004) including ethnicity, educational attainment, age, gender, size of woodland, relationship between residence and location of their woods, and personal identity and aesthetic concerns. However, there remains considerable uncertainty as to the actual and relative influence of these factors, and how they vary geographically (Erickson et al, 2002;Hunt, 2002), while most attempts by US Government agencies to influence NIPF owner management styles and actions have met with little success (Mills et al, 1996).…”

Monitoring Finnish family forestry

“…In the United States, the comprehensive National Woodland Owner Survey is conducted continuously (Butler and Leatherberry 2004). Separate survey studies have also been carried out in Europe (e.g., Lidestav and Nordfjell 1998, Bessières and René 2001, Kvarda 2004, Wiersum et al 2005 and Canada (Environics 2000, 2001in Hunt 2002. In this article, the Finnish monitoring system for private forestry is introduced.…”