Management Strategies for Small, Structurally Diverse & Income-Generating Forests

2017Parcellization of the rural landscape threatens the provision of social, ecological and economic benefits to society due to loss of economies of scale. A continued provision requires new approaches to forest management for multiple, interconnected goals. I used interviews, archival records and field measurements to learn how select, experienced owners of small forests simultaneously manage for income and structural diversity. The analysis of six 25 to 150 acre forests in the Central Willamette Valley of Oregon revealed that each landowner had income sources other than timber from their forests and had integrated their forest in diverse financial portfolios. Deliberate management for structural diversity in the assessed forests resulted in the three categories ‘close-to-industry’, ‘close to preserve’ and ‘intermediate’. There were considerable differences in landowner’s approaches to generate income and structural diversity. However, I also identified twenty-four general resource and strategy patterns which I explain through three theoretical contributions on 1) landowner learning, 2) understanding of the architecture of the complex system of small forest management and 3) integration of actions to achieve management goals. I conclude that the forests under examination add structural diversity elements to a conifer-dominated landscape component while not necessarily sacrificing economic goals