National Woodland Owner Survey

Who Owns America’s Forests

The Family Forest Research Center implements the National Woodland Owner Survey and Northern Research Station’s National Resource Use Monitoring on behalf of the USDA Forest Service’s Forest Inventory and Analysis program. The National Woodland Owner Survey is the official survey of private forest owners in the United States. To sustain the nation’s forests and the benefits they provide, it’s essential to understand the people who own and manage them. The survey is a critical tool for gathering that insight.

Most of the forests in the United States are privately owned. More than 10 million private forest ownerships—individuals, families, and corporations—collectively own over half of the nation’s forests and woodlands. Families and individuals own the majority of private forests, making them the largest group of forest owners in the United States. We call them family forest owners.

Based on data through 2018, one study found that 42% of the annual wood harvested in the United States came from family forests and 46% came from corporate forests, highlighting the vital role of private ownership in managing the nation’s forest resources and the need to better understand these groups. The decisions they make will shape the future of forests.  

The National Woodland Owner Survey is the only source of nationally consistent data about private forest owners, including their needs, motivations, and challenges. Data from the survey helps government agencies, service providers, landowner groups, non-governmental organizations, forestry professionals, and forest industry professionals make informed decisions about programs, policies, and services that support private forest owners and help ensure the future of the nation’s forests. 

The Family Forest Research Center conducts the National Woodland Owner Survey by reaching out to private forest owners across the country to ask about:

• The forest land they own
• Their reasons for owning it
• How they use it
• If and how they manage it
• Sources of information about their forests
• Their concerns and issues related to their forests
• Their intentions for the future of their forests
• Their demographics

Every five years, the results are published in a general technical report and made available in a variety of formats, including factsheets and plots generated in the National Woodland Owner Survey Dashboard (NWOS-DASH).

We are currently implementing the 2024-2028 cycle of the National Woodland Owner Survey. The survey and additional modules are available to view and download here.

For more information on the National Woodland Owner Survey, visit the USDA Forest Service website.

U.S. Forest Ownership Statistics from the 2023 National Woodland Owner Survey

Additional Projects

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