Reaching the Forest Owners of the Future

Bill HubbardSouthern Regional Extension Forester

CES – Southern RegionCharleston, SC

October, 2006

"You can always count on Americans to do the right thing after they have

exhausted all the other possibilities."

.......

Winston Churchill

1. Listen to the landowners….Listen to the professionals who study the landowners.

National Woodland Owners Survey

“New Generation of Private Landowner Study” (Mater Engineering) – Pinchot Institute

New Forest Owners Studies (Va Tech)

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Area of family forest by concern

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2. Strategic Planning at the County/Regional/State/National Level

AudiencesShould we segment? If so…how? (for e.g. absentee investors, professionals, preservationists, young families, forest planners, farmers)

Messages – what are our messages? Timber management? Wildlife? Recreation? Forest Health? Stewardship? Intergenerational Transfer?

Strategic Materials Development, Marketing & DistributionAn example: “The Hoge Plan”

Forest*A*Syst (Level I)Managing the Family Forest in the South (Level II)Woodlands Management Course (Level III)Private Forest Management Textbook (Level IV)Master Tree Farmer/Master Wildlifer Shortcourses (Level V)

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Absentee Investors Young Families Forest Planners Preservationists Farmers Professionals

NotAt AllImportant

VeryImportant

Neutral

The New “3-R’s

RigorPrepare the best educational materials and experiences we can as a collective group (Universities, Extension, USDA FS, NGO’s, state forestry, etc).

RelevanceMake sure the materials relate to their lives and goals.

RelationshipsMake sure we as a profession are there to assist them.

3. Change the way we do business!

Several thousand state forestry agency professionalsSeveral hundred Extension forestry professionalsCounty Extension agents have too many responsibilities to be the forestry educatorsNew model for reaching, educating and motivating landowners

State Extension work with state and county forestry agents to deliver messagesSustain the efforts! Don’t conduct a workshop or two and declare victory!Keep working with new partners!

Quality Deer Management AssociationLand Conservation and NGO communities

New Models (B. Hull, 2005)

Community Based Forestry

“True” Multiple Use

Estate Planning & Intergenerational Transfer

Un-even Aged Silviculture

Combat New Threats

Understand and work with “the theory of rational ignorance”

4. Realizing Extension’s potential

Current federal Extension dollars are limited ($4 million appropriated vs.$30 million authorized)

We need the support of the USDA Forest Service and the NASF to grow this program so we can be more effective delivering forestry/natural resource messages.

5. Continue to blend new technologies with old

One-on-One

Workshops

Printed materials

Media

Satellite

Internet

The use of “Adaptive Management” – use new technologies to learn from each other.

6. Use forest owners as leaders, mentors, “diffusors” of our information!

Coached planning

Coverts

Forest Landowner Associations

“Masters” programs (Master Gardener concept applied to Forestry)

Leadership training

7. Professional development for field staff

…………

“We’ve been practicing random acts of education”. Jim Johnson, Virginia Tech Extension, 2006.

Southern Regional Technology Transfer Assessment

If you see a fork in the road….take it.

Yogi Berra