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Harvard Forest REU Symposium Abstract 2010
- Title: What people do and who they talk to about it: Landowner decision-making and social networks in New Hampshire and Vermont
- Author: Megan S Jones (Reed College)
- Abstract:
Private landowners own nearly 70% of New England woodlands, and will therefore play a huge role in the future of this landscape. In order to better understand how private landowners manage their land, we used a survey to explore New Hampshire and Vermont landowner social networks and decision-making processes. Over a month-long period we sent two waves of surveys to 500 Vermont landowners and 500 New Hampshire landowners, and achieved a response rate of 50%. Half the landowners in each state received a longer survey and the other half received a shorter version to elicit information about different aspects of social networks. We estimate that woodland owners' social networks are comprised of seven individuals on average. The majority of social networks were principally made up of family members, friends and neighbors. Loggers, foresters and conservation group members were less likely to feature in a social network, but when they did they were the most involved and most helpful people. In the past two years the most commonly made decisions were cutting of trees for personal use and enrolling in the current use property tax program. Those who cut trees for personal use, enrolled in current use, or did a conservation easement were more likely to be satisfied with that decision than those who sold land or sold timber commercially. Landowners in New Hampshire and Vermont were more likely to talk to family, friends and neighbors than to talk with experts. However, when landowners did talk to experts, these experts had a greater impact than non-experts. Landowners are actively managing and discussing their land; future research might explore landowner decisions that were not made recently or that are anticipated for the future, and interplay between different vectors of communication in landowner social networks.
- Research Category: Conservation and Management
