Forest Cooperatives In The United States

"This bibliography was prepared as an aid to federal, state and county foresters who are interested in forming cooperative associations for the management of forest land and the markeing of forest products. ... Cooperative marketing of forest products in a comparatively new development in this country and the literature is scattered and fragmentary. All referecnes located on the subject have therefore been included even when they consist of only a page or a paragraph." Signed by Mildred B. Williams, Librarian.

Nonindustrial private forest (NIPF) land represents approximately 48 percent of the forest land cover in the United States, and conscientious stewardship of these forests is a perennial issue facing natural resource professionals. In an attempt to draw on the strengths of NIPF ownership, some entrepreneurial forest landowners are developing forest landowner cooperatives. In this proceedings of a satellite conference, we present information designed to help natural resource professionals and cooperative development specialists to: (1) gain a better understanding of cooperatives and a deeper insight into some of the successes and challenges of cooperatives; (2) evaluate whether the forestry cooperative model is right for your area and, if so, how to further the discussion locally; (3) see how cooperatives can complement other landowner assistance programs such as Tree Farm, Forest Stewardship, and woodland owner associations; and (4) hear first hand about the experiences of forestry cooperative initiatives in Massachusetts, Virginia, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Washington.

The Forest Products Marketing Laboratory of the U.S.D.A. Forest Service's Northeastern Forest Experiment Station has been studying the history of the forestry cooperative, and has analyzed the experiences of the cooperatives that have failed as well as those that have succeeded. In addition, the New Services Division of the U.S.D.A. Farmer Cooperative Service has a continuous program of research to assist members and managers of cooperatives. Out of these studies we can offer some practical guidelines to any group that is thinking about starting a forestry cooperative.