Characterizing Community Forests in the United States

Abstract

Research on community forests (CFs), primarily governed and managed by local forest users in the United States, is limited, despite their growth in numbers over the past decade. We conducted a survey to inventory CFs in the United States and better understand their ownership and governance structures, management objectives, benefits, and financing. The ninety-eight CFs in our inventory are on private, public, and tribal lands. They had various ways of soliciting input from, or sharing decision-making authority with, local groups, organizations, and citizens. Recreation and environmental services were the most important management goals, but timber production occurred on more than two-thirds of CFs, contributing to income on many CFs, along with a diversity of other income sources to fund operations. We discuss the difficulties in creating a comprehensive CF inventory and typology given the diversity of models that exist, reflecting local social and environmental conditions and the bottom-up nature of community forestry in the United States.

Citation

Hajjar, Reem; McGinley, Kathleen; Charnley, Susan; Frey, Gregory E; Hovis, Meredith; Cubbage, Frederick W; Schelhas, John; Kornhauser, Kailey. 2024. Characterizing Community Forests in the United States. Journal of Forestry. 122(3): 273-284. https://doi.org/10.1093/jofore/fvad054.