Jan 11, 2007

U.S. disappearing at an average of 6,000 acres each day - 4 acres a minute

Landmark study to help determine future of U.S. forests
"Within a relatively short period of time, there will be a major shift – throughout the U.S. – in the ownership of privately owned forest," During the next five years, an estimated 10 percent of the family owned forest land will be transferred from one generation to the next.



The Forest Service national survey found a large percentage of the children have had little or no involvement in the management of the family forests and had no clear plan for what they would do with the property once their parents transferred ownership.



"With forest and open space in the U.S. disappearing at an average of 6,000 acres each day – 4 acres a minute – we're concerned that this lack of involvement could result in even higher rates of forest loss in the future,"

"A new challenge now faces Wisconsin and the nation," says Paul Delong administrator of the DNR Division of Forestry. "Who will be the next stewards of the state's forests? Will it be the children of current landowners? And will these offspring maintain the same commitment to the land as their parents?" (link to WDNR feature)