Issue Papers

Private Lands

Throughout most of our history, America’s privately-owned forests and ranchlands have comprised a working landscape providing valuable public benefits, including a flow of ecosystem services, critical wildlife habitat, wood and agricultural products, recreational access, landscape connectivity, and support for rural green jobs and economies. Today, however, the nation’s private working landscapes are facing unprecedented and complex challenges, resulting in increasing fragmentation, real estate development, and conversion to other uses. Ownership of the vast majority of industrial forestland has transferred from vertically-integrated forest-based corporations—often with historical ties to the local community—to ownership by Timber Investment Management Organizations (TIMOs) and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). These transfers make future land management strategies uncertain and often result in increased residential development and reduced investments in local infrastructure. Speculative real estate opportunities and high estate tax burdens have also led many forest and rangeland owners to subdivide, develop, or divest their land. At the same time, generational turnover in forest and ranch ownership, combined with a reluctance on the part of heirs to remain on the land, has resulted in a new demographic of landowners with different values and a lack of knowledge and resources for stewardship and land management. These changes put stress on private working forests and rangelands, leading to fragmentation and conversion, and resulting in competing land management goals especially in the wildland-urban interface. Rural communities, and the urban communities they serve, are quickly losing the many public benefits that private lands have long provided.

Key Recommendations

1. Ensure that legislation or programs that create markets for carbon and other ecosystem services support access for small landowners.
2. Fund and grow new and existing financial and technical assistance programs that compensate private landowners for the public benefits and services that their land stewardship provides.
3. Fund community-based organizations that assist private landowners in accessing ecosystem service markets and conservation programs.
4. Pass estate tax reform that reduces the federal tax burden on those landowners whose heirs conserve working lands through conservation easements or other mechanisms that maintain the multiple benefits of working lands.
5. Provide $10 million in funding for the Community Forest and Open Space Conservation Program and provide robust funding for other federal programs that prevent land conversion and generate community benefits.
6. Pass the Community Forestry Conservation Act to create tax-exempt revenue bonds for private acquisition of working forest land.
7. Fully fund, at the authorized level of $900 million, the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) in order to conserve lands that protect water quality, habitat, and provide economic benefit for rural communities.
   

To learn more read the 2010 Private Lands Issue Paper.

Also read the 2009 Private Lands Issue Paper and the 2008 Private Working Lands Issue Paper.

Private Forests & 2007 Farm Bill

The 2007 Farm Bill provides an opportunity to make changes in federal policy to address critical issues related to private forest conservation and the social, economic, and environmental well-being of rural communities.

The Farm Bill should include provisions that respond to the emerging threat of development on private forestlands by incorporating ways for communities to engage in the long-term protection and management of private forests. The conservation of private forests, like public forests, cannot be achieved without investments in and capacity for long-term stewardship. This requires the willing involvement of landowners, technical and financial assistance, and an in-place workforce and business infrastructure.

Although many private forest landowners have been enthusiastic about existing programs, federal funding has been insufficient and has lacked the consistency needed to build their broad participation.

To learn more about our recommendations read our Private Forests & 2007 Farm Bill Issue Paper.

Introduction to Community Forests

Community members, conservation organizations and local, state and federal government officials are seeking opportunities to maintain large parcels of land as contiguous forest. Increasingly, forward thinking communities are pursuing an exciting and challenging option: acquiring these lands to manage as community forests. Community forests give residents greater control and self-determination in how their communities grow and develop, keep economic benefits from the land in local hands, preserve and enhance local traditions, and allow the community to invest in long-term resource protection.

To learn more about community forests and their benefits, read our Introduction to Community Forests.

Working Group

The Private Lands working group formed in response to the rapid conversion of private forestland nationwide. The group's goals are to support integrated approaches to maintaining working forests across private and public lands.  Specific efforts encourage development and implementation of land owner financial and technical assistance programs, payments for ecosystem services, tax reform, and promotion of innovative ownership models and land aggregation and acquisition strategies. 

Chairs: Maureen Bookwalter, Northwest Connections; Max Nielsen-Pincus, Ecosystem Workforce Program

To learn more read the 2010 draft private lands plank.