NWOS Small Corporate and Other Private owners (NWOS Long

_{NWOS Second Cover Letter}

Dear Landowner:

Several weeks ago, we sent you a questionnaire inviting you to participate in the National Woodland Owner Survey. You may have intended to complete the questionnaire but perhaps misplaced it or simply forget about it. If you have already returned the completed questionnaire, we apologize for contacting you again, sincerely thank you for your participation, and ask that you disregard this mailing.

However, if you have not returned your questionnaire, we ask you to consider doing so now. For your convenience we have enclosed another copy of the questionnaire and postage-paid return envelope. On average, the survey takes 25 minutes to complete.

Your participation is voluntary, but because of the limited number of landowners asked to participate in the survey, your answers are especially important. This survey is conducted once every 5 years. If you responded during the last cycle, we ask that you respond again.

Your responses will be kept strictly confidential and will be combined with those of others. The results will be used by policy makers, land managers, and public and private service providers to better understand and address issues that are important to landowners like yourself.

If you do not currently own land, please return the questionnaire using the postage-paid return envelope and write on the cover “No Land Owned.”

If you have questions regarding the survey, please call us toll-free at

1-855-233-3372, visit our website at www.fia.fs.usda.gov/nwos/, or write us at USDA Forest Service, National Woodland Owner Survey, 160 Holdsworth Way, Amherst MA 01003.

Brett J. Butler, Survey Director

NWOS: BASE Long Form Survey

OMB # 0596-0078

Expiration date: to be updated

Paperwork Reduction Act Notice

A Federal agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, nor shall a person be subject to a penalty for failure to comply with an information collection subject to the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 unless the information collection has a currently valid OMB Control Number. The approved OMB Control Number for this information collection is 0596-0078. Without this approval, we could not conduct this survey. Public reporting for this information collection is estimated to be approximately 25 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the information collection. All responses to this information collection are voluntary. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this information collection, including suggestions for reducing this burden to the U.S.D.A. Forest Service email address [email protected] and include the OMB Control Number in the subject line.

Instructions

• Please provide answers for all of the wooded land that you or your company owns in [STATE]. If you are part of more than one group that owns wooded land, please respond for the group that is listed on the outside of the envelope.

• The owner who makes most of the decisions about your or your company’s wooded land in [STATE] should answer this survey.

• If this survey is received by a company or other organization, please have a person knowledgeable about the organization’s wooded land in [STATE] answer this survey.

General Questions About Your land

1. How many total acres of land do you currently own in [STATE]?

_______Acres of land in [STATE]

2. Wooded land covers 89% of [STATE]. Wooded land includes:

• Woods, woodlots, timberland, and forests

• Land at least 1 acre in size, 120 feet wide, and has at least 10% forest cover

• Land at least 1 acre in size, where trees were removed, and trees will grow again

Wooded land does not include:

• Christmas tree farms, orchards, or nurseries

• Land that is mowed for lawn

How many acres of wooded land do you own in [STATE]?

_______Acres of wooded land in [STATE]

If you own any wooded land in [STATE], please complete this survey.

If you do not own wooded land in [STATE], please return this survey in the postage-paid envelope provided and write on the cover "No Wooded Land"

General Questions About Your Ownership

3. Which category below best describes your ownership?

Select only one.

• Individual

• Joint, with husband or wife

• Joint, such as with other family members or friends

• Family partnership or family LLC or LLP

• Family trust or estate

• Corporation or business (for-profit)

• Corporation or business (non-profit)

• Other (please specify):________________________________

4. How many people are a part of this ownership, including you?

_________Owners

5. Do you currently own more than one separate, unconnected property with wooded land in [STATE]?

• Yes

• No

6. Is your home (primary residence) on or within a mile of any of your wooded land in [STATE]?

• Yes

• No

• Not Applicable

7. Do you have a vacation home or cabin on or within a mile of any of your wooded land in [STATE]?

• Yes

• No

• Not Applicable

8. Do you own any land within a mile of any of your wooded land in [STATE] that is farmed or ranched?

For the purpose of this survey, a farm or ranch is a place where, in most years, $1,000 or more is earned from the sale of crops (other than forest products) or animals.

• Yes

• No

• Not applicable

9. Which of the following water body, if any, occurs on your wooded land in [STATE]?

Select yes or no for each item

Yes No

£ £ Pond/lake

£ £ River/stream/creek

£ £ Wetland/bog

£ £ Other (please specify):

Your Reasons for Owning Wooded Land

10. How important are the following as reasons for why you currently own wooded land in [STATE]?

.

	Very Important	Important	Moderately Important	Of little Importance	Not important	Not applicable
To enjoy beauty or scenery
To protect nature or biological diversity
To protect water resources
To protect or improve wildlife habitat
For land investment
For privacy
To raise my family
To pass land on to my children or other heirs
For cultural/spiritual reasons
For firewood
For timber products, such as logs or pulpwood
For nontimber forest products, such as berries or maple syrup
For grazing/shade animals
For hunting
For recreation, other than hunting

The History of Your Wooded Land

11. a. How did you get your or your company’s wooded land in [STATE]?

Select yes or no for each item

Yes No

£ £ Purchased

£ £ Inherited

£ £ Received as gift

£ £ Other (please specify):

b. From whom did you get your wooded land?

Select yes or no for each item

Yes No

£ £ My parents and/or my husband or wife's parents

£ £ My husband or wife

£ £ Another family member

£ £ Other individual(s)

£ £ A business

£ £ A government agency

£ £ Other (please specify):_______________

c. In what year did you, personally, first take ownership of your

wooded land in [STATE]?

_________Year

12.a. Have you ever sold or given away any of your wooded land in [STATE]?

• Yes

• No

If no, skip to question 13

If yes, please answer b, c and d.

b. If sold or given away, was your property subdivided or split up into multiple parcels?

• Yes

• No

• Don't know

c. If sold or given away, who received it?

Select yes or no for each item

Yes No

£ £ My children

£ £ Another family member

£ £ Other individual(s)

£ £ A business

£ £ A government agency

£ £ Other (please specify):

d. Have you sold or given away any of your wooded land in [STATE] in the past 5 years?

• Yes

• No

Uses of Your Wooded Land

13.Who makes the management decisions, such as whether or not to harvest trees, for your wooded land in [STATE]?

Select yes or no for each item

Yes No

£ £ Me

£ £ My husband or wife

£ £ My children

£ £ My parents

£ £ Another family member

£ £ My business partner

£ £ My land manager or forester

£ £ Other (please specify):

14. A management or stewardship plan may be written in order to help the landowner meet their goals for their wooded land.

a. How familiar are you with these types of plans?

• Extremely familiar

• Moderately familiar

• Somewhat familiar

• Slightly familiar

• Not at all familiar

b. Do you have a written management or stewardship plan for any of your wooded land in [STATE]?

• Yes

• No

• Don't know

If no or don't know, skip to question 15

If yes, please answer c, d, and e

c. Who was the primary writer?

Select one.

• I was

• Private consultant forester

• Federal/State/local government forester

• Other (please specify):

d. How was it funded?

• I paid for it

• A program paid for it

• Other (please specify):

e. Have you take actions to implement it?

• Yes

• No

15. a. What types of products, if any, were cut or removed from any of your wooded land in [STATE] since you have owned it?

Select yes or no for each item

YES NO

£ £ Firewood, for sale

£ £ Firewood, for personal use

£ £ Logs, for sale

£ £ Logs, for personal use

£ £ Wood chips or pulpwood, for sale

£ £ Wood chips or pulpwood, for personal use

£ £ Other (please specify):

b. Was a professional forester used to plan, mark, contract, or oversee any of the cuts?

• Yes

• No

• Don't know

• Not applicable

16. What types of nontimber forest products, if any, were collected from any of your wooded land in [STATE] since you owned it? Edibles include items such as [berries or maple syrup]. Medicinals include items such as [ginseng or St. John’s wort]. Landscaping includes items such as [transplants]. Decoratives include items such as [boughs or birch bark].

Select yes or no for each item

Yes No

£ £ Edibles, for sale

£ £ Edibles, for personal use

£ £ Medicinals, for sale

£ £ Medicinals, for personal use

£ £ Landscaping, for sale

£ £ Landscaping, for personal use

£ £ Decorative, for sale

£ £ Decorative, for personal use

£ £ Other (please specify):

17. Which of the following have occurred on your wooded land in [STATE] in the past 5 years?

Select yes or no for each item

Yes No

£ £ Cut and/or removed trees for sale

£ £ Cut and/or removed trees for own use

£ £ Planted trees

£ £ Collected nontimber forest products, such as berries or ginseng

£ £ Reduced fire hazard

£ £ Controlled burn/prescribed fire

£ £ Eliminated or reduced invasive plants

£ £ Eliminated or reduced unwanted insects or diseases

£ £ Road construction or maintenance

£ £ Trail construction or maintenance

£ £ Improved wildlife habitat

£ £ Livestock grazing

£ £ Other (please specify):

18.Which of the following will likely occur on your wooded land in [STATE] in the next 5 years?

Select yes, no/don’t know for each item

Yes No/Don’t know

£ £ Cut and/or remove trees for sale

£ £ Cut and/or remove trees for own use

£ £ Plant trees

£ £ Collect nontimber forest products, such as berries or ginseng

£ £ Reduce fire hazard

£ £ Controlled burn/prescribed fire

£ £ Eliminate or reduce invasive plants

£ £ Eliminate or reduce unwanted insects or diseases

£ £ Road construction or maintenance

£ £ Trail construction or maintenance

£ £ Improve wildlife habitat

£ £ Livestock grazing

£ £ Other (please specify):

19.To encourage good woodland management, groups have created green certification programs to recognize landowners who comply with the groups’ standards. Examples include Tree Farm, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), and Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI).

a. How familiar are you with green certification?

• Extremely familiar

• Moderately familiar

• Somewhat familiar

• Slightly familiar

• Not at all familiar

b. Is any of your wooded land in [STATE] currently green certified?

• Yes

• No

• Don't know

20. Some state and local governments have programs that defer, reduce, or eliminate property taxes for wooded land. In [STATE], there are the Tree Growth Tax Law and Open Space Tax Law programs.

1. How familiar are you with these programs?

• Extremely familiar

• Moderately familiar

• Somewhat familiar

• Slightly familiar

• Not at all familiar

2. Is any of your wooded land in [STATE] currently enrolled in one of these programs or a similar one?

• Yes

• No

• Don't know

21. Development rights for land can be sold or voluntarily given away. This is usually in the form of a conservation easement.

a. How familiar are you with this concept?

• Extremely familiar

• Moderately familiar

• Somewhat familiar

• Slightly familiar

• Not at all familiar

2. Have development rights been sold or voluntarily given away on any of your wooded land in [STATE] by either you or a previous owner?

• Yes

• No

• Don’t know

22. Cost-share/financial assistance programs provide landowners with money to help them establish or otherwise manage their wooded land. Examples include the Conservation Reserve Program, the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program, and various state funded programs.

1. How familiar are you with cost-share/financial assistance programs?

• Extremely familiar

• Moderately familiar

• Somewhat familiar

• Slightly familiar

• Not at all familiar

2. In the past 5 years, have you used a cost-share program to help you establish or manage your wooded land in [STATE]?

• Yes

• No

• Don't know

23. Have you leased any of your wooded land in [STATE] in the past five years for the following

Select yes or no for each item

Yes No

£ £ Logging

£ £ Hunting

£ £ Recreation (other than hunting)

£ £ To graze/pasture livestock

£ £ Solar/wind

£ £ Oil/gas

£ £ Other (please specify):

24. In efforts to reduce the impacts of climate change, public programs and private markets have been created that pay owners of wooded land for capturing or sequestering carbon.

a. How familiar are you with carbon capture programs or markets?

• Extremely familiar

• Moderately familiar

• Somewhat familiar

• Slightly familiar

• Not at all familiar

b. Is any of your wooded land in [STATE] currently enrolled in one of these carbon capture programs or markets?

• Yes

• No

• Don't know

Recreation on Your Wooded Land

25 a. Who, with your permission, has hunted, hiked, or otherwise recreated on your wooded land in [STATE] in the past 5 years?

Select yes or no for each item

Yes No

£ £ Me and/or my husband or wife

£ £ My children

£ £ Other family members

£ £ Friends

£ £ Neighbors

£ £ The general public for free

£ £ The general public for a fee

£ £ The general public as part of an access program

£ £ Other (please specify):

b. How did you/they recreate, if at all?

Select yes or no for each item

Yes No

£ £ Hunting

£ £ Fishing

£ £ Hiking/walking

£ £ Bicycling

£ £ Nature viewing

£ £ Birding

£ £ Camping

£ £ Horseback riding

£ £ Skiing or snowshoeing

£ £ Off-road vehicles, such as ATVs or snowmobiles

£ £ Other (please specify):

26. What activity, if any, is posted to restrict access and/or use by the general public on any of your wooded land in [STATE]

Select yes or no for each item

Yes No

£ £ Trespassing

£ £ Hunting

£ £ Motorized vehicles

£ £ Other (please specify):

Sources of Information

27. Have you talked with anyone or received information/advice about

the care, management, or protection of your wooded land in [STATE] in the past 5 years?

• Yes

• No

If no, skip to question 28.

If yes, please answer a, b, and c.

1. What was it about?

Select yes or no for each item

Yes No

£ £ Unwanted insects or plant diseases

£ £ Wildlife or wildlife habitat

£ £ Timber production

£ £ Land conservation

£ £ Fire safety

£ £ Invasive plants

£ £ Other (please specify):

2. How did it happen?

Select yes or no for each item

Yes No

£ £ Talked to someone

£ £ Someone visited my land

£ £ Received a brochure or other written material

£ £ Web/web search

£ £ Social media

£ £ Email

£ £ Conference or workshop -in person

£ £ Conference or workshop - virtual

£ £ Other (please specify):

3. Who was involved?

Select yes or no for each item

Yes No

£ £ Federal/State/local government employee

£ £ Extension forester or other university employee

£ £ Private consultant

£ £ Non-profit/NGO

£ £ Another landowner

£ £ Family member or friend

£ £ Other (please specify):

28. Which of the following would be helpful to you?

Select yes or no for each item

Yes No

£ £ Cost-sharing for woodland management

£ £ More favorable tax policies

£ £ Stronger timber markets

£ £ Other (please specify):

29.Which of the following information/advice topics would be helpful

to you?

Select yes or no for each item

Yes No

£ £ Timber management

£ £ How to transfer land to the next generation

£ £ Conservation easements

£ £ Wildlife management

£ £ Invasive plants

£ £ Wildfire risk reduction

£ £ Unwanted insects or diseases

£ £ Carbon programs

£ £ Green certification programs

£ £ Tax programs

£ £ Other (please specify):

30. How would you prefer to get information or advice related to your wooded land?

Select yes or no for each item

Yes No

£ £ Talk to a neighbor

£ £ Talk to an expert

£ £ Have someone visit my land

£ £ Written materials, such as brochures or other publications

£ £ Web/web search

£ £ Social media

£ £ Email

£ £ Conference or workshop -in person

£ £ Conference or workshop - virtual

£ £ Other (please specify):

£ £ I don't want/need information or advice

Concerns

31. Please indicate your level of concern about each of the following topics for your wooded land in [STATE].

	Great concern	Concern	Moderate concern	Of little concern	No concern	Not applicable
Air pollution
Climate change
Damage from animals
Development of nearby lands
Drought or lack of water
Damage or noise from off-road vehicles
Government regulation
High property taxes
Invasive plants
Keeping land intact for future generations
Misuse of wooded land, such as vandalism or dumping
Trespassing or poaching
Unwanted insects or diseases
Water pollution
Wildfire
Damage from storms
Weak timber markets

The Future of Your Wooded Land

32. a. How likely is it that you will sell, give away, or otherwise transfer any of your wooded land in [STATE] in the next 5 years?

• Extremely likely

• Likely

• Undecided

• Unlikely

• Extremely unlikely

If likely or extremely likely, answer b.

If undecided, unlikely, or extremely unlikely, skip to question 33.

b.Who will likely receive it?

Select yes, no, or don’t know for each item

Yes No/Don’t know

£ £ My children

£ £ Another family member(s)

£ £ Other individual(s)

£ £ A business

£ £ A government agency

£ £ Other (please specify):

33. Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements about the future of your wooded land.

Select one box for each item

	Strongly agree	Agree	Neither agree nor disagree	Disagree	Strongly disagree
I want my wooded land to stay wooded
I would sell my land if I was offered a reasonable price

34. Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements about your knowledge and feelings about your wooded land

	Strongly agree	Agree	Neither agree nor disagree	Disagree	Strongly disagree
I know my wooded land very well
I want to know more about my wooded land
I have a strong emotional attachment to my wooded land
I believe my wooded land provides benefits to my community

General Questions About You

This section asks questions about you to help us understand private forest owners more broadly. As with the rest of the survey, your responses are anonymous and will not be used to identify you. If you are responding on behalf of a company or other organization, skip this section.

35. What is your age?

_______Years

36. What is your gender?

• Male

• Female

37. What is the highest degree or level of school you have completed?

• Less than 12th grade

• High school/GED

• Some college

• Associate degree

• Bachelor's degree

• Advanced degree

38. Are you of Hispanic or Latino origin?

• Yes

• No

39. What is your race?

Select one or more.

• American Indian or Alaska Native

• Asian

• Black or African American

• Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander

• White

40. What is your household’s annual income?

• Less than $25,000

• $25,000 - $49,999

• $50,000 - $99,999

• $100,000 - $199,999

• $200,000 or more

41. On average, what percentage of your household’s annual income comes from the wooded land that you own?

_______Percent