Oral Abstract Details

Author(s):
Mary L. Tyrrell, Brett Butler, Purnima Chawla

Affiliation:
Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies; USDA Forest Service; Center for Nonprofit Strategies

Presentation Type:
Oral

Topic Area:
Science delivery and exchange of information for natural resource professionals, policymakers, and private citizens

Abstract Text:
Engaging Family Woodland Owners: A Social Marketing Approach Mary L. Tyrrell, Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies; Brett Butler, USDA Forest Service Family Forest Research Center; and Purnima Chawla, Center for Nonprofit Strategies. Decisions made by millions of family forest owners are key to the sustainability of U.S. forests. Collectively, their actions enhance or degrade the landscape; therefore how they manage their forests and whether or not they convert them to other uses is of significant public interest. Under the auspices of the Sustaining Family Forests Initiative (SFFI), we have developed a practical set of tools to help conservation and forestry professionals reach more landowners with effective stewardship messages and to develop programs that better serve the needs and values of the landowners. These tools were developed from research on landowner values, objectives, and behavior, as well as interviews with natural resource professionals in forestry and conservation throughout the country. With data from the USDA Forest Service’s National Woodland Owner Survey (NWOS) and landowner focus groups, and using social marketing analytical tools, we provide new insights into the 70% to 80% of landowners who are not reached with traditional outreach programs. Using multivariate statistical analysis, we have identified four “types” of landowners based on their broad orientation towards their land: Working the Land, Woodland Retreat, Supplemental Income, and Uninvolved. We further analyzed the NWOS data using a standard social marketing technique, the prime prospect analysis, and found that two-thirds of landowners who own between 10 and 1,000 acres in the United States have a stewardship mindset but are not engaged in managing their woods (e.g. they don’t have management plans, they don’t consult foresters, and don’t participate in programs such as cost-shares and easements). This is an indicator of how many people you can expect to influence to engage in stewardship and woodland management programs. Then, looking at what attitudinal segments they fall into will give you ideas about how to influence them. Results are packaged on a website, Tools for Engaging Landowners Effectively (TELE) at www.engaginglandowners.org. There are three parts to TELE: A primer on targeted marketing; landowner data broken down into attitudinal segments as well as demographic and behavioral segments (e.g. new owners; those with a conservation easement); and a communication planning tool.