Do female and male family forest landowners think alike? A qualitative analysis from Georgia, United States

Abstract

Family forest landowners own approximately 55 % of the state of Georgia's forestlands (24.6 million acres). Female forest ownership has grown in recent years and is expected to increase even further. Literature on forest landowners’ viewpoints about forestry in Georgia, in general, and about female forest landowners, in particular, is very limited. To address this research gap, we aim to investigate the viewpoints of family forest landowners regarding forestry in Georgia with a gender lens, i.e., the differences and similarities in how male and female family forest landowners view forestry-related issues in Georgia. Content analysis of responses to an open-ended question, which was in turn part of a mail survey, revealed six prominent themes, i.e., foresters/outreach, timber market, programs/resources/taxes, needs/suggestions, concerns, and desire to learn more. In general, a lower number of female responses fell under the foresters/outreach, programs/resources/taxes, needs/suggestions, and concerns themes, compared to their male counterparts. No female responses fell under the timber market theme, whereas the majority of male responses did. The desire to learn more theme received nearly equal number of responses from females and males. Our key findings indicate that 1) women require more assistance from foresters and need outreach opportunities to learn more about forest management, including topics such as timber markets, programs/resources/taxes; 2) males reported the timber market value is low and should increase; 3) males expressed more resources and programs are required for forest landowners to manage their forestlands (including tax incentives); 4) males and females suggested more public education about logging, expanded use of technology, and youth involvement in forest management; 5) women are concerned about invasive species and men about land development. These results are important to inform policymaking for supporting family forest landowners in Georgia, especially female forest landowners who are a rising segment of forest landownership in the state.