Gifts to a Future World: Conversations with Woodland Owners in Nova Scotia

Abstract

Private, non-industrial woodland owners provide more than half of the timber used by Nova Scotia’s forest-products industry. Research, however, suggests that many of these owners do not consider the income from timber sales to be their primary reason for owning woodland. This study aimed to reach a holistic understanding of their attitudes and motivations using walking interviews on the owners’ woodlands and a grounded theory approach to analysis. Forest landowners interviewed for this research were most concerned with the conservation – and ultimately the conveyance – of values that provide them with no immediate economic returns. The high value placed on these “gifts to a future world” offers a new way to think about the design of programs meant to encourage active management of private forestland.