A Case for Cascadia Forest Legacy: A Land Trust

CONTEXT 

About ten million small forest owners, sometimes referred to as “family  forest owners,” are the moms and pops of America’s woodlands. Collectively, they own the largest amount of forest in the U.S., about 35% of the total. If  the parcels were gathered into a single 263-million-acre tapestry, they  would cover an area more than 1.5 times the size of California. 

In Oregon, some 60,000 small forest owners care for about 3.7 million acres  across a state with forests that are both globally significant for carbon  storage and among the most productive for softwood in the nation. These  working landscapes averaging 94 acres in size also function as habitat  corridors and stepping-stones between higher elevation federal forests and  valley floors. 

In addition to packing on CO2 and delivering oxygen, small working forests  clean water; shelter wildlife, fish, and pollinators; generate products like  mass timber; and support a cascade of economies. A far-reaching public  windfall of nature’s services derives from the hard work of forest  stewardship.  

Decades of social science research has produced a portrait of small forest  owners that diverges greatly from the mythology of chainsaw-wielding Paul  Bunyans. As the National Woodland Owner Survey reveals, small forest  owners typically prioritize values like appreciation for scenery, wildlife, and  recreation over economics. Those values manifest in the ways that moms  and pops manage their properties, even as those efforts are invisible to most  of us. 

The American public is long familiar with the idea of the family farmer and  rancher; they are icons with a brand created in part by a long history of  Hollywood portrayals and FarmAid fundraisers. In contrast, the small forest  owner is relatively unknown, a generic ingredient in a stockpot called “the  timber industry”.

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URGENCY 

Nationwide, small forest owners and their forests are quietly disappearing; Oregon offers a clarion example. Since 2015, the state’s small forestlands  have shrunk by nearly a quarter, or about 1,000,000 acres. The majority  were acquired for industrial timber production. 

No one should be surprised at this rapid transformation.  

In the 2005 executive summary of their survey of small forest owners, the  Oregon Forest Resources Institute concluded, “There will be a dramatic  transition of title for family forestlands over the next 20 years due to the  large share of owners aged 65 and older (almost 50% of all owners).”  

Demographic realities will continue to drive this trend for a limited time.  Data from the most recent National Woodland Owners Survey (2021) shows  that most small forest acres in Oregon are owned by people aged 75 or  older. Almost nothing is known about their succession plans. For those with  heirs, OSU’s Ties to the Land Program may be a helpful resource. For many  others who lack options, “For Sale” signs are likely looming. Research by the  Pinchot Institute indicates that healthcare expenses are a major driver for  forestland conversion.  

OPPORTUNITY 

In 2024, anthropologist Dr. Guy Trombley conducted detailed, person-to person interviews with a diversity of small forest landowners in Washington  as part of a research project for the Washington Farm Forestry Association  about incentivizing carbon storage. Among his findings was the discovery  that using the phrase “family forestland” was objectionable to interviewees  whose children have no interest in management of the property; and, to  those who lack heirs. These people feel alone in their challenge to find a  means of insuring that their legacies of forest stewardship may be sustained  into the future; some are ready to hand over their keys to a new generation even without compensation. We suspect this situation holds true in Oregon  and elsewhere in the Pacific NW. if only there were a credible means to  facilitate the process and to conserve and manage these lands. 

Informally solving for succession in rural communities is not a new story. My  wife’s great grandfather worked as a hired hand for a childless couple who 

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owned a farm in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. When they died, he inherited  the place, and it remains a working landscape owned and managed by our  family.  

Yet, because succession/conversion is happening rapidly and at scale now,  there is an acute need for providing interested small forest owners with a  pathway and structure for conservation of their working lands.  

The land trust community in Oregon is arguably the leading contender to  play this role. However, land trust leaders are generally reluctant to step  into the vacuum largely because of what might be called “the small parcel  problem.”  

Creating and maintaining conservation easements is time consuming and  expensive. As beautiful as they are to their owners, small, scattered, working forest parcels which may not host special features or species of  concern are less appealing to land trusts. Additionally, managing working  landscapes adds another layer of complexity and cost, especially given that  the typical small forest parcel would benefit to some degree from both  thinning and reforestation. 

MODELS OF SUCCESS 

There are numerous impressive and noteworthy programs in the U.S.  actively working to conserve small working forestlands; none are in the  Pacific NW. 

Of the 42 state-based, small forest owner associations in the country, the  Maine Woodland Owners (MWO) may be the first and only one helping peers conserve the working forests they have spent lifetimes creating.  

In 1990, MWO established a land trust within their organization to accept  properties and easements. With almost no marketing, the trust now protects  nearly 12,000 acres of working forestlands, which will perpetually provide  carbon storage, timber production, and public access for recreation,  including hiking and hunting. In effect, these parcels function as community  forests. Receipts from active forest management cover MWO’s costs  including property taxes.  

The leading example of conserving working forestland at scale is arguably  the New England Forestry Foundation. As the nation’s sixth largest land 

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trust, NEFF has permanently protected large and small parcels totaling 1.2  million acres of working forestland, including the establishment of 158  community forests across Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New  Hampshire, and Maine. 

OUR VISION 

Oregon’s small working forests provide significant and mostly unsung  benefits across the state. At a time when the planet is overheating from a  greenhouse gas that trees naturally absorb, wildfires are consuming an ever larger share of the state budget, rural workforce development is in demand,  and polarizing divisions between rural and urban populations are on the rise,  conserving working forests to leverage solutions for these and other related  challenges is good public policy.  

The Oregon Agricultural Trust and its state-funded sister organization, the  Oregon Agricultural Heritage Program, are beginning to address the need to  conserve working farm and ranchlands. Protecting working forestlands is no  less important. 

Oregon has an opportunity to demonstrate leadership in the Pacific  Northwest by launching the first small working forest land trust in our  region.  

GOALS/STRATEGIES OF CASCADIA FOREST LEGACY 

Conserve small working forests with easements and acquisitions, including  properties accessible for public recreation. 

Connect aging small forest landowners and young forest stewards through  mutually beneficial mentorships, and work-to-own options. 

Provide the next generation of small forest stewards with viable  opportunities for ownership. Establishing a mechanism to accept tax deductible forestland donations protected with easements and then sold at  affordable below-market rates to the next generation of foresters will be a  core function.

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Help reduce the risk of small working forests to fire while enhancing their capacity to store carbon, provide wildlife habitat, and contribute to local  economies by connecting landowners to expertise and resources. 

Help address the need for more skilled forestry workers and leverage  workforce development opportunities for young people through partnerships  with existing organizations like AntFarm and Lomakatsi. 

Facilitate face-to-face social and economic connections between urban and  rural citizens with creative programming, for example by applying the model  of community supported agriculture to small working forests. On a  subscription basis, urbanites could manage their climate anxiety tangibly by  storing their carbon in local forests where they could touch the trees and  meet their stewards. 

Seek policy changes that strengthen and incentivize small forest ownership. Raise the profile of small working forest stewardship through storytelling. Collaborate with stakeholders on behalf of small forest owners. 

CFL MISSION 

Partnering to protect small working forests for our communities, economies  and ecosystems across generations.