Assessing the Educational Needs of Women Who Own

ASSESSING THE EDUCATIONAL NEEDS OF WOMEN WHO OWN

NON-INDUSTRIAL PRIVATE FORESTLAND IN WISCONSIN

by

Noone U. Know

A Thesis

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the

requirements of the degree

MASTER OF SCIENCE

College of Natural Resources

UNIVERSITY OF SOMEWHERE

City, ST

December 2001

APPROVED BY THE GRADUATE COMMITTEE OF:

Committee here

ABSTRACT

Much is known about non-industrial private forestland (NIPF) owners as a group, but little is known about female NIPF owners. A mail survey was conducted on a random sample of Wisconsin women NIPF owners to gather demographic information and examine ownership goals and educational needs and interests. Two pilot forestry workshops were conducted for women to test educational strategies and examine the need for forestry education opportunities for women. Study findings indicate that there is an interest in, and need for, forestry education workshops for women, and that the pilot workshops were well received. Respondents who were not married were more likely than married women to prefer a women’s workshop. Results suggest that female NIPF owners have been as likely to seek forestry information from personal sources such as spouses, family or friends, as from media or professional sources such as DNR foresters or Extension agents. Women with more formal education were more likely to consult professional sources for forestry information. Women with college or advanced degrees were also more likely to have attended—and were most likely to be interested in attending—a forestry education workshop than women with less formal education.

Respondents with post-high school education were more likely to be involved in land management decision-making than were those with high school education or less.

Finally, women without spouses were almost twice as likely to say they received economic value from their land, than were women with spouses. These findings provide additional information for planners, natural resource agencies, foresters and forestry educators interested in better serving their many publics.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to thank. . .

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DEDICATION

This effort is dedicated to the memory of [deleted], with thanks for the many gifts.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Insert Table of Contents HERE

LIST OF TABLES

Insert list of tables here

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1. Counties sampled. 15

LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendix A. Cover letter and mail survey instrument

Appendix B. Pre-workshop cover letter and survey instrument

Appendix C. Post-workshop survey instrument

Appendix D. Follow-up postcard, mail survey

Appendix E. Follow up letter, mail survey

Appendix F. Topics offered at pilot forestry workshops

Appendix G. Summary of workshop participants’ class evaluations

Appendix H. Post-workshop instructor feedback

Appendix I. Additional comments, mail survey respondents

Appendix J. Recommendations for workshop coordinators

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INTRODUCTION

Background

In Wisconsin, there are currently an estimated 260,000 non-industrial private forestland (NIPF) owners (Wisconsin DNR, 1999; Leatherberry, 2001), twice as many as there were 50 years ago (Wisconsin DNR, 1999). NIPF owners hold 61% of Wisconsin’s private forestland, with the average owner holding less than 50 acres (Leatherberry, 2001). In Wisconsin, more than 90% of private ownerships contain less than 100 acres of forestland (Leatherberry, 2001). In addition, a United States Forest Service (USFS) study (Birch, 1994) states that nationally, five percent of private forestland owners have a written management plan; this five percent controls 39% of the private forestland. In the United States, an estimated 9.9 million private ownerships control more than 390 million acres of forestland (Birch, 1994).

Amid the concern about fragmentation (Birch, 1994) and shortage of management plans, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has identified improving its forestry education program as a priority (Wisconsin DNR, 1999). Research indicates the public has much to learn about forestry. The same study suggests that NIPF owners differ little from the general public in their level of forestry knowledge and forestry management opinions. In one recent paper, Bliss takes this idea another step and recommends extending forestry education to the entire populace, not just to forestland owners (Bliss, 1994).

As a group, NIPF landowners have been well studied and documented, but little is known about women NIPF owners and co-owners as a subset of this larger group. If surveyed and considered on their own, will women woodland owners tell a different story? Can focusing on women as a group and attempting to address their needs improve their level of involvement and management? What are women’s ownership goals? How much do women make use of the types of assistance available to woodland owners?

Though women comprise roughly half of the U.S. population, as a group they are not as well documented as woodland owners and stewards. Though husband/wife couples made up 61 percent of the NIPF owners in Wisconsin in the 1980s, (Roberts et al., 1986), details about women owners remain largely undocumented. In land ownership studies, women's demographic information, ownership objectives, and educational needs, if mentioned at all, have generally been undifferentiated from those of men.

This study seeks to contribute to the existing body of knowledge and to examine women’s involvement in forest ownership and management by conducting a mail survey of female NIPF owners and piloting forestry workshops for women.

Literature Review

Background: Non-Industrial Private Forest (NIPF) Landowners

Much is known about NIPF owners in the United States and in Wisconsin. Researchers from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), from universities, state land management agencies, and other agencies produce volumes of statistics about NIPF owners and farmer woodland owners, their demographics, holdings, reasons for ownership, and much more. Nationally, most individual forest owners are white, male, and more than 55 years old (Birch, 1994). More than 25% of individual owners are retirees. As a group, NIPF owners are older than the general population, with 25% being 65 or older (Leatherberry, 2001). The majority of owners (58%) first acquired their land prior to 1980 (Leatherberry, 2001). Equally well-documented are woodland owners in Wisconsin, their land, their ownership motivations and land tenure (Roberts et al., 1986; Bliss, 1988; Leatherberry, 2001; Kroenke, unpublished).

According to Wisconsin DNR estimates, fewer than 20% of individuals and families who own forestland have written forestry plans or consult professional foresters when harvesting timber (Wisconsin DNR, 1999). From the latest survey, in Wisconsin an estimated 262,234 NIPF landowners hold just over 10.8 million acres of timberland, with an average parcel size of 41 acres. Of these, 95% are individual owners (defined as single persons or two or more individuals). Farm operators comprise 30% of the state’s timberland owners. Most land held by farmers is held by individual owners (Leatherberry, 2001).

NIPF owners’ gender is generally not documented in the literature. However, one Wisconsin study documents 82% male respondents (Roberts et al., 1986). This study also found that 89% of woodland ownerships were held by spouses and individuals. Of those, 61% were married couples, who held 51% of the woodland acreage. These figures suggest that there are many women involved in ownership, at least on paper, but they may not be fully represented in surveys.

Motivations for Ownership and Management

When asked to state their primary goals for forestland ownership, 45% of Wisconsin forestland owners cited recreation (26%) and aesthetic (19%) enjoyment. Another 26% indicated their timberland was part of a residence or farm. An additional 5% mentioned land investment as the primary reason for ownership. Timber production was cited by 2% of owners, who control 13% of NIPF land area (Leatherberry, 2001). In an earlier study, Wisconsin woodland owners, when asked which of several reasons applied to them, cited the following as some of their main reasons for ownership: wildlife habitat, aesthetic enjoyment, source of forest products for their own use, and part of the land around a home or cottage (Roberts et al., 1986).

In a qualitative study of NIPF ownership motivations, forests were found to serve as a focal point for family cohesiveness, a place for families to work, play and relax together, as well as a source for intergenerational continuity (Bliss, 1988). In the Bliss study, women (all joint owners) frequently mentioned the importance of “giving something back,” and, the author points out “the possibility of gender differences in forest values” (Bliss, 1988).

Women and Forest Management: Studies and Importance

In the U.S. and internationally, women are no strangers to forest management, and throughout the literature, across cultures, women’s involvement and unique contributions are acknowledged as an important element in the success of forestry efforts. Programs such as the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s Gender Analysis and Forestry program (Wilde and Vainio-Mattila, 1995), and recent research in Sweden, indicate that women are involved in, and contribute to, successful forestry practices (Lidestav, 1998). In a study in Nepal, Tanaka concluded that while the importance of women’s participation was not always considered initially, it became apparent that both women and men’s involvement was critical, to improve environmental protection and quality of life (Tanaka, 1995).

Further support for women’s education and involvement in forestry practices comes from an observation by Nancy Bozek, executive director of the Wisconsin Woodland Owners Association, “In my work with WWOA, I have noticed that couples and families who work together in their woodlands generally are better stewards of their woods because they pool their talents and ideas to make their dreams a reality” (Udonno, 2000). A final note, attesting to the importance of forestry education for women, is the very real fact that women often outlive their male mates.

A study of women NIPF owners in Sweden documented many apparent differences between male and female NIPF owners. The number of female owners in Sweden has been increasing in recent years, and female owners there tend to be slightly younger (Lidestav, 1998). The differences documented in this study suggest there may indeed be differences between women and men NIPF owners in Wisconsin. Other findings of interest include research showing that women and minorities generally own smaller tracts of woodland than white males (Birch et al, 1982; Effland et al, 1993; Lidestav, 1998; Wallace et al, 1999). Studies also suggest that women may be less inclined toward harvesting timber than men (Hansis, 1995; Strathy, 1995; Lidestav, 1998; Nichols, 1998).

One qualitative study of U.S. women agricultural landowners—this includes farmer woodland owners—suggests that women may be motivated to hold their land to keep it in the family, but it is unclear if this differed for men, or whether it holds true for the majority of women (Effland et al., 1993).

While those in less-developed countries may have different day-to-day needs and priorities than those in developed ones, the studies cited suggest that women’s motivations warrant closer examination.

Educational Needs of NIPF Owners

Because they are stewards of more than half of the nation’s commercial forestland, NIPF owners might be expected to know more about and feel differently toward forestry than the rest of the public. However, based on studies conducted in the southeastern U.S., NIPF owners as a group appear to differ little from the general public in their forestry knowledge (Bliss, 1994). Several researchers call for forestry education for all citizens, not just NIPF owners, to improve understanding of humans’ relationships to trees and forests (Bliss, 1994; Barden et al., 1996; Harmon et al., 1997).

Much management information is available to NIPF owners, but research suggests that a general lack of information on the part of owners has been a barrier to improving NIPF management (West et al., 1988). Of NIPF owners surveyed in one study, 35% did not know whom to contact for forestry assistance. On the whole, NIPF owners with larger holdings (>500 acres) were more knowledgeable about where to seek management assistance than those with smaller holdings (<50 acres), (Kuhns et al, 1998; Leatherberry, 2001). It also appears that NIPF owners who have a better forestry education background used a greater diversity of management information sources (Kuhns et al., 1998).

One study indicates that owners prefer publications and educational tools they can use on their own, and they are less interested in attending meetings or workshops (Kuhns et al., 1998). Conversely, California resource managers found the workshop format a beneficial way to reach California’s Central Coast NIPF owners. Following a triage protocol used in marketing, researchers identified the importance of reaching the “medium order” landowners who, with external help, will be most likely to manage their land. High and low order owners—those very likely or very unlikely to adopt a management scheme on their own—were considered a lower outreach priority (O’Keefe et al., 1987).

In 1997, the Social Sciences Institute of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) began researching the changing roles of women in agriculture—which would include farmer woodland owners—in an effort to enhance outreach efforts to this audience. The Institute found that women farmers and operators are growing in numbers, although farms and the number of farmers are declining. Also, older farm women depend heavily on rent from farmland, as their other sources of income, such as retirement pensions, are generally less than those of men (Wallace et al., 1999). Further, farm wives frequently outlive their husbands, as do other women in the general population. According to the USDA Economic Research Service, 46% of farmland acquired by women is inherited, versus only 19% for men (Rogers and Wunderlich, 1993). In addition, Wallace et al. noted that greater percentages of farm women surveyed earned college and advanced degrees than farm men. This study recommended actions such as targeting women’s agricultural organizations to reach women in agriculture, and encouraged conservation partners to recruit women for local conservation initiatives, including recruitment to the boards of Resource Conservation and Development Districts (RC&Ds) (Wallace et al., 1999).

Forestry Education and Resources for Wisconsin NIPF Owners

Wisconsin NIPF owners have access to a variety of public and private agencies and resources for education and management information. Resources range from consultations with foresters to literature and workshops offered by agencies, businesses, and private and non-profit organizations.

Public resources for forest management information include the U.S. Forest Service, which provides a wealth of information including publications, maps, videos and data. The DNR and UW-Extension are also excellent sources for forest management literature and publications. These publications inform on a wide range of topics, from drawing up a woodland management plan, to combating gypsy moths and oak wilt. In addition to excellent literature, Extension offers landowner workshops and services of county educators in Wisconsin. Across the state, RC & Ds provide support in various forms, including services of consulting foresters. Some NIPF owners work one-on-one with a forester. Such forestry consultations are available from state (DNR), forest industry or private foresters.