One Size Does Not Fit All: Relationships between Size of Family Forest Holdings and Owner Attitudes and Behaviors

An estimated 10 million families, individuals, trusts, and estates own 39 percent of the forestland in the United States, excluding interior Alaska. Using segmented regression, the relationships between size of forest holdings and the attitudes and behaviors of these family forest ownerships were tested using data from the 2018 iteration of the USDA Forest Service's National Woodland Owner Survey. All 16 variables tested have significant relationships with size of forest holdings, and 13 have one or more breakpoints, ranging from 40 to 5,854 ac, where the relationships between the variables change. Timber as a reason for owning, timber harvesting activities, management plan, advice received, land certified, tax program participation, cost share, recreation, land tenure, recreation, taxes and heirs as concerns, land transfer, and income from forestland have positive relationships with size of forest holdings; resident ownership has a negative relationship; and wildlife as a reason for owning and owner age have mixed relationships. Study Implications: The size of family forest ownerships ranges from a single acre to many thousands of acres. Because of economies of scale and other factors, the opportunities and constraints for these ownerships vary depending on the size of their holdings. Similarly, the attitudes and behaviors of ownerships vary substantially by size of holdings. Although there are no universal size thresholds that can be used to segment ownerships, effective design and implementation of policies, programs, and services should consider size of holdings. Likewise, analyses of family forest ownership data should incorporate these size relationships.