Pacific Southwest

Title: A resurvey of oak woodland landowners: 1985, 1992, and 2004

Author: Huntsinger, Lynn; Johnson, Martin; Stafford, Monica; Fried, Jeremy

Date: 2008

Source: In: Merenlender, Adina; McCreary, Douglas; Purcell, Kathryn L., tech. eds. 2008. Proceedings of the sixth California oak symposium: today's challenges, tomorrow's opportunities. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-217. Albany, CA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station: p. 57-68

Description: Results of a 1985 survey of California hardwood rangeland landowners were used to develop a multi-agency research and extension program, known as the Integrated Hardwood Range Management Program. In 1992 and in 2004, owners of the same properties were re-surveyed, regardless of whether or not the properties had changed ownership. Some highlights of the results are reported here. Although the survey cannot prove the program is the sole or direct agent of change, program-sponsored education and research aimed at encouraging oak rangeland owners to change oak management practices is reflected in changes in key landowner behaviors. Owners were less likely to value oaks for fuelwood, and less likely to cut oaks down. In addition, there was a significant increase in landowners planting oaks. Consultation with Cooperative Extension advisors and specialists about oaks continued to increase. Other changes also reflect the changing times: landowners reported that land trusts were as often consulted about oaks as Cooperative Extension advisors and specialists. About 6.5 percent of them had a conservation easement on their property, and the number of oak woodland landowners engaged in production of crops or livestock continues to decline. On the other hand, the number of landowners, including ranchers, who say they live in the oak woodland to be near natural beauty, for recreation, and to have a different lifestyle, is increasing.

Keywords: Easements, extension, grazing, land use, management, values.

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Citation

Huntsinger, Lynn; Johnson, Martin; Stafford, Monica; Fried, Jeremy  2008.  A resurvey of oak woodland landowners: 1985, 1992, and 2004.   In: Merenlender, Adina; McCreary, Douglas; Purcell, Kathryn L., tech. eds. 2008. Proceedings of the sixth California oak symposium: today's challenges, tomorrow's opportunities. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-217. Albany, CA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station: p. 57-68.