VIII. CHANGES IN FOREST LANDS

Resources about changing patterns of forest land ownership, in the Northern Forest and the U.S., and its implications for the environment and society.  With notes (by Rachel Neugarten).

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USDA Forest Service. 2008.DRAFT National Report on Sustainable Forests – 2010. 222 PP.

Bliss, J.C., E.C. Kelly, J. Abrams, C. Bailey. 2008. Disintegration of the industrial forest estate and the future of small-scale forestry in the United States. Rural Studies Program, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR. Working Paper Number RSP 08-03. http://ruralstudies.oregonstate.edu/Publications/RSP-08-03.pdf%20Accessed%20December%202008.

• Describes major U.S. forestland sales in the period 2001-2007, totaling at least 27.4 million acres, at an estimated cost of over $30 billion
• Includes a table of 21 of the major sales (text describes at least 65)
• discusses implications of change in ownership from industrial, vertically-integrated timber companies to timber investment management organizations (TIMOs) and real estate investment trusts (REITs) - significantly different objectives, timelines, management characteristics, and resulting implications for local communities
• three scenarios described for lands sold: land stays in timber harvest, sometimes with increased intensity; land subdivided and developed; land bought for conservation

Hagan, J.M., L.C. Irland, and A.A. Whitman. 2005. Changing timberland ownership in the Northern Forest and implications for biodiversity. Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences, Report # MCCS-FCP-2005-1, Brunswick, Maine, 25 pp.

• 1) Built database of all timberland sales in Northern Forest 1980-2005: 23.8 million acres changed hands, some ownerships multiple times
• Ownership transition from industrial to other (financial investors, public, conservation orgs, timber barons & logging contractors)
• Found pattern of increasingly fragmented ownership (not necessarily fragmented landscape, but parcelization)
• 2) Also surveyed 59 randomly selected landowners, 36 responses (61%)
• Evaluated self-reported management characteristics, biodiversity practices, FSC / SFI certification
• Industrial owners had strongest biodiversity practices, financial investors varied widely in practices

• report synthesizing presentations & discussions at a 2000 symposium examining the significant increase in timberland sales, changing ownership, and resulting implications for forest conservation
• organized into sections: market changes, changing ownership patterns, timberland investment, examples of recent transactions, strategies for effective land conservation of divested timber lands, conclusions & recommendations
• estimates suggest as much as 12-15 million acres of industrial timberland in the U.S. will be transferred out of industry ownership in the next decade
• Factors driving divestitures include: consolidation within the industry, strategic restructuring to focus on production manufacturing, and shifting of capital towards foreign timberland purchases and biotechnology research
• increasing amount of forest land being purchased by institutional investors, whose timberland assets are managed by Timber Investment Management Organizations (TIMOs)
• institutional investment in timberland increased from <1 billion in 1989 to $8 billion by 1999
• “TIMOs respond to different signals than do forest products companies, leading to questions about their acquisition, management, and disposal decisions”
• conservation orgs and government agencies have raised concerns about the timberland divestitures, particularly as they pose potential threats of conversion or fragmentation
• trying to respond to these divestitures by conserving significant acreages with potentially high ecological value is overwhelming the financial and organizational capacity of these organizations and agencies
• recommendations: increased funding for existing public & private conservation programs, identify acquisition priorities for conservation before lands come on the market, partnerships between TIMOs, conservation organizations, and government agencies to protect parcels with significant ecological value
• industrial timberlands have provided enormously important public benefits (wildlife habitat, watershed protection, recreational opportunities)
• “If the public values these lands have historically provided are to be maintained, then public funding and support, as well as new strategies, are critically needed to conserve these lands and ensure their current and future stewardship.”
• examples of land sales highlighted include:
• 1998 – Champion International sells 300,000 acres in NY/VT/NH.; Conservation Fund brokered a deal with NY state, The Forestland Group; TFG purchased 114,000 acres in NY within the Adks, plans to manage land for long-term timber production, with NYS easement; NYS purchased 29,000 acres for forest preserve; 20-30 conservation groups involved
• 1997- Plum Creek Timber wanted to sell 2,500 acres at Lindburgh Lake, MT, valued at ~$13 million; Trust for Public Land (TPL) arranged a 3-year phased purchase to make lands available to the U.S. Forest Service / Flathead National Forest
• 1998 - International Paper sold 185,000 acres of land in northern Maine to The Nature Conservancy for $35 million; TNC able to raise $31 million of the total $35 million in the first 12 months; “TNC plans to manage the land, protecting the river’s unique natural and recreational resources” “…The challenge for TNC is planning the management of the timberland and determining how much of the land should remain as working forest.”
• 1999 - St Joe Co. sold $170 million worth of land in Florida for conservation in three transactions, totaling 65,000 acres; working to transfer lands of key ecological or recreational value to the state; TNC partnering on deals, optioning properties up for sail and assigning option to the state  

Christensen, Norman L. Jr., 2008. Sustaining America's Forest Legacy.Conservation Biology 22(6): 1378-1379.

• Summarizes, in general terms, the challenges facing U.S. forests: Changing demographics, Changing human demands on forest lands, Changing forest cover, Changing forest health, Changing climate
• Summarizes recommendations from "Forests for Tomorrow" - report from National Commission on Science for Sustainable Forestry conference (last two are pertinent):
• Reprioritize forest management objectives on public lands
• Provide stable and permanent incentives for forest greenways and buffers on both urban and rural landscape
• Improve planning and coordination across jurisdictions and ownerships. Future policies will provide incentives and institutions for forest ecosystem management across ownership and jurisdictional boundaries. These programs will encourage participation and foster trust among all stakeholders. They are especially important for effective management of forest health challenges that extend across traditional borders of jurisdiction and ownership.
• Implement innovative and effective communication and learning. Future policies and programs will foster understating of the importance of integrated land planning and management and of the multiple benefits and values that obtained from such management.

Stein, Susan M.; McRoberts, Ronald E.; Alig, Ralph J.; Nelson, Mark D.; Theobald, David M.; Eley, Mike; Dechter, Mike; Carr, Mary. 2005.Forests on the edge: housing development on America's private forests. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. PNW-GTR-636. 16 p. http://www.fs.fed.us/projects/fote/reports/fote-6-9-05.pdf

Weinberg, A. and C. Larson (2008). Forestland for Sale: Challenges and Opportunities for Conservation over the Next Ten Years. New York, NY, Open Space Institute: 19 p.  http://www.osiny.org/site/PageServer?pagename=PressRelease_Forestland_For_Sale

• report on changing timberland ownership in Northern Forest (specifically Mahoosuc region in NH and ME)
• shift from industrial ownership to investors (TIMOs and REITs)
• new landowners (cash flow, total return, high net worth)
• market forces driving the sales and the next generation of sales
• "new owners are anonymous, stay out of view behind land management companies, are cutting back on forest-related employment, and often limit or charge fees for public access"
• in the Mahoosucs, “the shift has caused fragmentation of large parcels, reduced forest-related jobs, increased harvest rates, expanded posted areas for trespassing, and hastened development of lakefront and riverfront properties”
• but also “immense opportunity” for conservation
• increase in land values: “Land is selling at prices above the level at which sustainable forest management is cost-effective, suggesting that landowners are seeking returns in part from speculation, liquidation, conservation and land development”
• experts believe TIMO model is limited (will be phased out next 30 years)
• certification is useful but doesn’t transfer to new ownerships
• easements are an important tool 

• report on changing timberland ownership in Northern Forest (specifically Mahoosuc region in NH and ME)
• shift from industrial ownership to investors (TIMOs and REITs)
• discuss the types of new landowners (cash flow, total return, high net worth)
• market forces driving the sales and the next generation of sales
• new owners are anonymous, stay out of view behind land management companies, are cutting back on forest-related employment, and often limit or charge fees for public access
• in the Mahoosucs, “the shift has caused fragmentation of large parcels, reduced forest-related jobs, increased harvest rates, expanded posted areas for trespassing, and hastened development of lakefront and riverfront properties” - but also “immense opportunity” for conservation
• increase in land values: “Land is selling at prices above the level at which sustainable forest management is cost-effective, suggesting that landowners are seeking returns in part from speculation, liquidation, conservation and land development”
• believe TIMOs are limited (phased out next 30 years)
• certification is useful but doesn’t transfer to new ownerships - easements are important tool  

• Private forest land changes, challenge for conservation  

• Possible positive implications of smaller-scale private forestry  

• Forest cover decline in most ecoregions of eastern U.S.  

• Forest cover decline and trends in New England 
• Vision for protecting 70% of landscape in forest through conservation areas and easements on private land

• Fragmentation of private forest land