Partnership Initiatives: Kennebec County Woodland Owners Survey

• About two-thirds of woodland owners own between 1-50 acres of forest land and have owned their parcel(s) for more than 25 years. Almost three-quarters live on their woodland and are between the ages of 51-75 years old.
• The top three reasons why local woodland owners own forest land are: For privacy, To enjoy beauty or scenery, as Part of my primary home; only about 15 percent of participants own land For production of saw logs, pulpwood, biomass, or other timber products.
• Nearly three-fourths of respondents do not have a written forest management plan, but two-thirds of these individuals would either consider getting one or are undecided. Asked what would encourage them to acquire a management plan, a little over half said getting a property tax reduction. Other major reasons cited were finding ways to improve wildlife, and getting professional advice about how to improve my land.
• Slightly over half of the respondents have conducted a commercial timber harvest on their woodland at sometime; of these, nearly three-fourths were somewhat to very satisfied with the outcome and 60 percent said they would be willing to conduct another commercial harvest. Less than 20 percent were somewhat to very unsatisfied.
• Over two-thirds said they preferred getting information about their forest land from the Maine Forest Service, a forester or other natural resource professional, rather than loggers, neighbors or family members.