Timber Harvesting by Nonindustrial Private Forest Landowners in Western Oregon

Abstract

Abstract A survey of nonindustrial private forest (NIPF) landowners in Western Oregon was analyzed to gain insights about their harvesting activity. Past participation in harvesting, harvest type, and future intentions for harvest were related to ownership size, tenure, residence, form of organization, method of acquisition, occupation, age, and income. Thirty percent of the respondents reported harvesting at least once during the 1979-1989 period. Higher rates of harvest participation were found for larger ownership sizes, longer tenure, corporate organization, farm ownership, and higher personal income. At least some of the influence of size on reported participation came from the natural tendency of larger ownerships to have a greater variety of acres eligible for harvest. Ownership size combined with a variety of demographic factors--tenure, residence, form of organization, acquisition method, occupation, and income--influenced whether the harvest was a clearcut or a commercial thinning. Commercial thinning and thinning/clearcutting combination harvests were more common than clearcutting. Landowners were generally willing to harvest in the future; more than two-thirds of the NIPF acreage is controlled by owners with definite harvest plans. Owners who reported no intentions to harvest had little past harvesting activity. The predominance of thinning and other forms of partial cutting by smaller NIPF owners may indicate opportunities to improve the condition of NIPFs through assistance in selective cutting. West. J. Appl. For. 10(2):66-71.