Forestry Cooperatives

Book excerpt: Nonindustrial private forest (NIPF) land represents approximately 48 percent of the forest land cover in the United States, and conscientious stewardship of these forests is a perennial issue facing natural resource professionals. In an attempt to draw on the strengths of NIPF ownership, some entrepreneurial forest landowners are developing forest landowner cooperatives. In this proceedings of a satellite conference, we present information designed to help natural resource professionals and cooperative development specialists to: (1) gain a better understanding of cooperatives and a deeper insight into some of the successes and challenges of cooperatives; (2) evaluate whether the forestry cooperative model is right for your area and, if so, how to further the discussion locally; (3) see how cooperatives can complement other landowner assistance programs such as Tree Farm, Forest Stewardship, and woodland owner associations; and (4) hear first hand about the experiences of forestry cooperative initiatives in Massachusetts, Virginia, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Washington.