COMMUNITY FORESTS AS AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO PROMOTING RURAL PROSPERITY IN THE UNITED STATES

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: ACTIVE
• Funding Source: AFRI COMPETITIVE GRANT
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 1025096
• Grant No.: 2021-67023-34426
• Cumulative Award Amt.: $497,288.00
• Proposal No.: 2020-04617
• Project Start Date: Mar 1, 2021
• Project End Date: Feb 28, 2026
• Grant Year: 2021
• Program Code: [A1661]- Innovation for Rural Entrepreneurs and Communities

Recipient Organization
FOREST SERVICE
201 14TH ST SW YATES BLDG
WASHINGTON,DC 20002-6405

Performing Department
Southern Research Station

Non Technical Summary
Community forests occur across land ownership types, are governed and managed primarily by community members, and aim to produce local socioeconomic and environmental benefits. However, little is known of the mechanisms by which they produce these benefits in the U.S. owing to a paucity of research, despite their growth in numbers over the past decade. We will use quantitative and qualitative research methods from economics and the social sciences to investigate the question: What factors and conditions enable community forests in the U.S. to enhance the sustainability of forests while promoting rural prosperity and well-being? The project has three objectives: (1) inventory, characterize, and classify community forests in the U.S.; (2) understand the economic and conservation benefits and costs of community forests, their merits and limitations, and the socioeconomic and institutional factors and conditions that lead to success; and (3) disseminate insights about how community forests can contribute to forest conservation and rural prosperity. We will achieve these objectives using a multi-method approach that includes conducting a nationwide survey administered to community forest administrators; comparative case studies of a sample of community forests; and numerous knowledge dissemination activities. The proposed project addresses the goals of AFRI's Agriculture Economics and Rural Communities, Rural Economic Development priority by generating information to inform decision making, policy design, and project implementation related to community forests as an innovative approach to enhancing the sustainability of forest resources and production systems in the U.S., and promoting rural economic development and prosperity in forest communities.

Animal Health Component

100%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

(N/A)

Applied

100%

Developmental

(N/A)

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
605	0699	3010	40%
608	6050	3080	40%
610	0699	3060	20%

Knowledge Area
605 - Natural Resource and Environmental Economics; 608 - Community Resource Planning and Development; 610 - Domestic Policy Analysis;

Subject Of Investigation
0699 - Trees, forests, and forest products, general; 6050 - Communities, areas, and regions;

Field Of Science
3010 - Economics; 3080 - Sociology; 3060 - Political science;

Keywords

community forests

rural prosperity

economic development

governance

environmental conservation

Goals / Objectives
Given the scant research on CFs in the U.S., our multi-method approach seeks to gain both a broad knowledge of the types, management, and goals of CFs across the country, and an in-depth understanding of individual cases that can illuminate pathways and prospects for contributions to rural prosperity in forest communities. As such, the proposed research will be carried out in three phases, corresponding to our broad objectives: (1) a national-level inventory of CFs through survey methods; (2) a number of in-depth case studies across the country; and, (3) dissemination of results. We will seek approval from the Institutional Review Boards of both NC State and OSU for all aspects of the research involving human subjects.Research question: What factors and conditions enable CFs in the U.S. to enhance the sustainability of forests while promoting rural prosperity and well-being?Project goal: Generate policy and practical insights for the establishment and support of CFs as an innovative approach to forest conservation and rural prosperity in the U.S.Objective 1. Inventory, characterize, and classify CFs in the U.S.Specific Aim (S.A.) 1A. Identify, inventory, and document key characteristics of CFs.S.A. 1B. Classify CFs based on their characteristics.S.A. 1C. Summarize and document trends in CFs.Objective 2. Understand the economic and conservation benefits and costs of community forests, their merits and limitations, and the socioeconomic and institutional factors and conditions that lead to success.S.A. 2A. Identify direct and indirect monetary and non-monetary benefits and costs of CFs.S.A. 2B. Understand the ways in which CF governance and management in the U.S. can advance rural economic opportunities and pathways to prosperity.S.A. 2C. Identify potential community, forest, governance, and management characteristics that may be linked to positive social, economic, and ecological outcomes.S.A. 2D. Examine the federal and state policy context pertaining to CFs and how it could be strengthened to enhance support for CF.Objective 3. Disseminate insights about how community forests can contribute to forest conservation and rural prosperity.S.A. 3A. Transfer empirical understanding of CFs in the U.S. to the scientific community.S.A. 3B. Disseminate information about successful approaches and practices, and potential benefits and costs of CFs to community/regional organizations, policy-makers, decision-makers, and other involved stakeholders.

Project Methods
Objective 1. Inventory, characterize, and classify CFs in the U.S.1.1.Data collectionActivity 1A. Continually update and improve database of CFs.The work of inventorying CFs in the United States has begun as described in Section A.3, but we will continue to update and improve this database as we receive new information from referrals, undiscovered sources, and newly-established CFs. As of now, our existing inventory includes 137 CFs, but more may be added as we find new information.Activity 1B. Survey administrators of CFs in the U.S.We will conduct a survey of key contacts and managers of CFs across the country. Given our goals of creating a comprehensive inventory of all CFs in the US (our population of interest), we will do a census survey of all known CFs rather than a sample. Included in our existing inventory is publicly available email contact information for each CF, usually a CF manager, landowner or administrator. We will follow the principles of the Tailored Design Method (Dillman et al. 2014) to increase response rates through crafting a convincing cover letter and through repeated contacts: an initial contact email explaining the study and confirming that the recipient is the right person to fill out the survey (Scheuren 2004); a few days later, an email with an online survey link; and two reminder emails two weeks apart, stressing the importance of the work and outlining how CFs may benefit from the research. Online surveys are cost-effective and typically produce lower rates of processing error and higher rates of response than mail-out surveys (Bhattacherjee 2012; Biemer and Lyberg 2003; Scheuren 2004; Vaske 2008); and lower impacts from researcher influence or social desirability bias than interviews (Biemer and Lyberg 2003). For missing survey responses, we will follow up with phone calls where possible, and will additionally seek alternative sources of information that can help fill out the database (for example, key informant interviews among federal or state agency staff). Mixed-mode surveys such as these have had high success rates (Vaske 2011).1.2.Data analysis and interpretationActivity 1C. Summarize data on CFs in the U.S.Data collected from the survey will be used to update and fill out our existing inventory database, which will be made publicly available (see Data Management Plan). We will analyze data from the survey through frequency, summary, and comparative statistics, which will allow us to understand trends with regards to where, how, and for what purposes CFs in the U.S. are governed and managed. We will look for correlations between variables such as region, ownership type, decision-making processes, management goals, and income generation.Activity 1D. Iteratively revise definition, criteria, and typology of CFs; classify CFs.We have created a preliminary definition of and criteria for CFs in the U.S. (see Section A.3) based on the international understanding of CFs and the U.S.'s unique legal, policy, and landownership characteristics. We will iteratively revise the definition and criteria for inclusion and classification of CFs, as more information and more CF initiatives come to our attention, while justifying the exclusion of others that do not meet the criteria.Objective 2. Understand the economic and conservation benefits and costs of community forests, their merits and limitations, and the socioeconomic and institutional factors and conditions that lead to success.2.1.Data collectionActivity 2A. Conduct mixed-methods detailed comparative case studies of a sample of CFs.Mixed-method comparative case studies will allow us to examine the factors and conditions that support or impede innovative approaches for advancing socioeconomic opportunities for rural entrepreneurs and communities in the United States. Ten CFs will be purposively selected across the United States for in-depth examination using the case study method (Yin 2009), based on our inventory results and typology (Sections A.3 and D.1), pilot case studies (Section A.3), and consultation with our Stakeholder Advisory Committee. A maximum variation purposive sample is appropriate for a small-n study, where a random sample may miss key variation of interest (Maxwell 2012).2.2.Data analysis and interpretationActivity 2B. Conduct economic assessment of the benefits and costs of case studies.We will assess each case study CF to identify and, to the extent possible, quantify monetary and non-monetary direct and indirect benefits and costs. This assessment will allow a financial analysis of sustainability of the CF operation, and estimation of value of a subset of benefits and costs, although we will not seek to fully monetize all possible benefits and costs. This approach will provide an economic measure of forest livelihoods for the CF case studies, and also allow comparison with other literature to benchmark forest returns under different land ownership and tenure arrangements (e.g., Cubbage et al. 2020; Frey et al. 2018b; Li et al. 2020).Activity 2C. Conduct qualitative thematic analysis of case studies.Interview transcripts and documents for each case study will be analyzed qualitatively, applying both emergent and theoretically driven codes to unpack more nuanced and context-specific relationships between CF governance and rural prosperity. First cycle coding will focus on descriptions of innovations in governance and management, challenges and opportunities, enabling environments; and changes in various dimensions of rural prosperity. Second cycle, axial coding will then be used to relate coded themes and concepts to each other, inductively and deductively testing theoretical assertions on linkages between local participation in governance and management and increased rural prosperity, as well as illuminating the causal mechanisms behind these assertions. In addition, axial coding will aim to clarify the moderating influence of case-specific enabling environment factors (as defined in D.2.1) on the emergence of innovations in governance, and their ensuing influence on the relationship between governance and rural prosperity. To enhance reliability, inter-coder reliability (Lavrakas 2008) will be assessed on sections of transcripts until a Kappa Coefficient of 0.8 or higher is reached.Activity 2D. Conduct qualitative comparative analysis of case studies.While the thematic analysis will provide in-depth insight into CF governance innovations and resulting rural prosperity outcomes, we will also conduct a qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) across case studies to explore causal mechanisms more systematically and assess which variables (encompassing the internal and external enabling environment) (Sanchez Badini et al. 2018), tend to lead to positive outcomes for rural prosperity. ?QCA uses Boolean logic and set theory to determine which combinations of predictor variables are most closely associated with the outcome in question (Ragin 2014). Each case study is given a series of scores based on its membership to different sets of conditions and outcomes. If a case meets a certain predictor condition (for example, "inclusive decision-making") or outcome condition, (for example, "increased forest-based employment"), then that case is given a score of 1 for that condition. Alternate models are then calculated based on the presence or absence of predictor and outcome conditions, to find combinations of predictors leading to the outcome in question. As such, a QCA can isolate the conditions, and interactions of conditions, that lead to positive outcomes for forests and livelihoods in CFs.?

Progress 03/01/24 to 02/28/25

Outputs
Target Audience:At this stage of our project, our primary audience includes organizations that might seek to establish or support community forests. This includes land trusts, local governments, community-based organizations, tribal governments and tribal organizations, federal and state agencies. Changes/Problems:Early delays in implementation of the grant agreement, along with the pandemic slowed work on objective 2. We originally planned to do one or more case studies in year 1, but did most year 2 and a few remaining in year 3. Analysis and writing of case studies took longer than expected and some co-PIs have been diverted to administrative and supervisory tasks taking a portion of their time. We have been granted an extension for the project. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?One graduate student in Forestry (NC State) and one research fellow for the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education who was concurrently a graduate student in Forest Ecosystems and Society (Oregon State) worked on the project during the year. Training activities included various courses taken and one-on-one guidance and support from university major advisors (project Co-PI/PDs), and Forest Service Scientist mentors (project Co-PI/PDs). Professional development activities included data analysis, writing of theses and report chapters. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have met with advisory panel on several occasions to discuss findings so far and get input on how to proceed. We have delivered numerous presentations to academic and practitioner audiences. These presentations have described some final results on characteristics of community forests, as well as preliminary findings on topics of interest to practitioners who may be in the process of creating, developing, or enhancing plans for community forests: partnerships, governance, finance, equity, and conservation. We coordinated with two practitioners to facilitate their presentations of experiences with community forests. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Obj. 1 - Publish data archive of survey data. Obj. 2 - We will finish writing, conduct peer review, and publish a report on case studies. We will conduct analysis on topics of interest to practitioners who may be in the process of creating, developing, or enhancing plans for community forests: partnerships, governance, finance, equity, and conservation. This will result in 1-2 journal article submissions during the year. Obj. 3 - We will conduct multiple presentations at scientific and professional meetings, likely including 2025 Society of American Foresters Convention.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Obj. 1 - We published a manuscript (Frey et al., 2024) providing our perspective on what constitutes a "community forest" in the United States and how to identify them, based on their characteristics, participation in programs, and self-identification. We believe this perspective will further the discussion on community forests and how they relate to community-based forestry and other similar initiative in the U.S., and will help future researchers and practitioners better communicate and frame their work. Obj. 2 - We have completed summary write-ups of the majority of 18 case study community forests of several of the cases, which are ready for technical review. These and the remaining cases will be consolidated into a general technical report, which will give readers (policymakers and practitioners) a greater sense of how different community forests address their challenges and work to enhance rural prosperity. We have begun preliminary data analysis on several key themes that will result in publications and presentation on topics on which will inform practice and policy. Some of those preliminary results were presented in meetings to researchers and practitioners. Obj. 3 - We have delivered numerous presentations to academic and practitioner audiences. These presentations have described some final results on characteristics of community forests, as well as preliminary findings on topics of interest to practitioners who may be in the process of creating, developing, or enhancing plans for community forests: partnerships, governance, finance, equity, and conservation.

Publications

• Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Frey, G.E.; Hajjar, R.; Charnley, S.; McGinley, K.; Schelhas, J.; Tarr, N.A.; McCaskill, L.; Cubbage, F.W. 2024. Community forests in the United States  how do we know one when we see one? Society & Natural Resources 37(8): 1240-1252. DOI: 10.1080/08941920.2024.2361413.

Progress 03/01/23 to 02/29/24

Outputs
Target Audience:At this stage of our project, our primary audience includes organizations that might seek to establish or support community forests. This includes land trusts, local governments, community-based organizations, tribal governments and tribal organizations, federal and state agencies. Changes/Problems:Early delays in implementation of the grant agreement, along with the pandemic slowed work on objective 2. We originally planned to do one or more case studies in year 1, but did most year 2 and a few remaining in year 3. We have been granted an extension for the project. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?A total of 4 different graduate students in Forestry (NC State) and Forest Ecosystems and Society (Oregon State) worked on the project during the year. Training activities included various courses taken and one-on-one guidance and support from university major advisors (project Co-PI/PDs), as well as periodic support from Forest Service scientists. Professional development activities included data analysis,writing of theses and reportchapters, and two students presenting at the 2023 International Association for Society and Natural Resources (IASNR) Conference. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have met with advisory panel on several occasions to discuss findings so far and get input on how to proceed. We have delivered numerous presentations to academic and practitioner audiences. These presentations have described some final results on characteristics of community forests, as well as preliminary findings on topics of interest to practitioners who may be in the process of creating, developing, or enhancing plans for community forests: partnerships, governance, finance, equity, and conservation. We coordinated with two practitioners to facilitate their presentations of experiences with community forests. Team members presented to the Northwest Community Forest Coalition Winter Quarterly Meeting on Feb. 29, 2024 aboutEquity in Access to Community Forest Benefits and Decision Making Processes andCommunity Engagement with Community Forests Under Different Ownership Models in the U.S. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Obj. 1 - Publish data archive of survey data. Obj. 2 - We will finish writing, conduct peer review, and publish a report on case studies. We will conduct analysis on topics of interest to practitioners who may be in the process of creating, developing, or enhancing plans for community forests: partnerships, governance, finance, equity, and conservation. This will result in 1-2 journal article submissions during the year. We will finalize a protocol, and conduct interviews with key stakeholders on policy support for community forests. Obj. 3 - We will conduct multiple presentations at scientific and professional meetings, likely including 2025 Society of American Foresters Convention.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Obj. 1 - We drafted a manuscript (Frey et al., in review) providing our perspective on what constitutes a "community forest" in the United States and how to identify them, based on their characteristics, participation in programs, and self-identification. We believe this perspective will further the discussion on community forests and how they relate to community-based forestry and other similar initiative in the U.S., and will help future researchers and practitioners better communicate and frame their work. We finalized analysis of our inventory of community forests and published (Hajjar et al. 2024). This analysis describes the broad universe of community forests in the country and provides basic description and characteristics. This enables policymakers to understand the category and practitioners obtain a broader sense of the variety and experiences. Obj. 2 - We finished data collection on 18 case study community forests, and have taken the first step in data analysis, which is to code the case study documents and interviews according to our codebook. We have completed summary write-ups of several of the cases. These and the remaining cases will be consolidated into a general technical report, which will give readers (policymakers and practitioners) a greater sense of how different community forests address their challenges and work to enhance rural prosperity. Obj. 3 - We have delivered numerous presentations to academic and practitioner audiences. These presentations have described some final results on characteristics of community forests, as well as preliminary findings on topics of interest to practitioners who may be in the process of creating, developing, or enhancing plans for community forests: partnerships, governance, finance, equity, and conservation. We coordinated with two practitioners to facilitate their presentations of experiences with community forests.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2024 Citation: Hajjar, R.; McGinley, K.; Charnley, S.; Frey, G.E.; Hovis, M.; Cubbage, F.W.; Schelhas, J.; Kornhauser, K. 2024. Characterizing community forests in the United States. Journal of Forestry. https://doi.org/10.1093/jofore/fvad054
• Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: McCaskill, L.S. 2023. Equity in Community Forestry in the Western US. M.S. Thesis. Corvallis, OR: Oregon State University.

Progress 03/01/22 to 02/28/23

Outputs
Target Audience:At this stage of our project, our primary audience includes organizations that might seek to establish or support community forests. This includes land trusts, local governments, community-based organizations, tribal governments and tribal organizations, federal and state agencies. Changes/Problems:Early delays in implementation of the grant agreement, along with the pandemic slowed work on objective 2. We originally planned to do one or more case studies in year 1, but did most year 2 and a few remaining in year 3. We will likely need to request an extension for the project. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have met with advisory panel on several occasions to discuss findings so far and get input on how to proceed. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Obj. 1 - We will finalize and submit a manuscript exploring the various definitions of community forest in the U.S., how that interrelates with self-identification and participation in community forest policies (Frey et al. forthcoming). We will finalize and submit a manuscript summarizing the range of characteristics of community forests in terms of geophysical, ownership, financial, governance, management, and other variables (Hajjar et al. forthcoming). Obj. 2 - We will finalize data collection for a total of 18 cases. We will conduct qualitative coding and other data analysis. Obj. 3 - We will continue to dialogue with our advisory panels. We will seek to publish findings in scientific journals.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Obj. 1 - Since no "list" of community forests exists, our approach has been iterative. Further, many forest initiatives that do not identify as community forests have some characteristics that are similar. Our team developed a methodology for identification (Frey et al. forthcoming) and has reached out to initiatives that either self-identify as community forest (e.g., "community forest" in the title) or have participated in a policy or program targeting community forests. This has led to creation of a list of 97 community forests across the country, which have provided information, or for which we have acquired data independently, on geophysical, ownership, financial, governance, management, and other variables. We have summarized the data. These results are currently in draft and will be submitted for publication soon (Hajjar et al. forthcoming). We have written a chapter (McGinley et al. 2022) that explores the range in rights and responsibilities acquired and exercised by local communities in the designation and implementation of community forests under different ownership models, and how these different models affect community participation in forest management and decision-making at the local level. Obj. 2 - We published a description of our exploratory work with four cases in the US East (Hovis et al. 2022). This exploratory work was crucial in development of a case study protocol. This protocol has been used to document 11 community forest cases through Feb 2023, with an additional 7 planned in the coming months. We have created a codebook to code the interview transcripts and other documents Obj. 3 - We have formed two advisory panels - one consisting primarily of governmental and non-governmental organizations, and another consisting of tribal contacts. We have met on several occasions to discuss findings so far and get input on how to proceed. We have published two papers (see below, with two more in process and several additional papers and products in the pipeline.

Publications

• Type: Book Chapters Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: McGinley, K.A.; Charnley, S.; Cubbage, F.W.; Hajjar, R.; Frey, G.E.; Schelhas, J.; Hovis, M.; Kornhauser, K. 2022. Community forest ownership, rights, and governance regimes in the United States. Chapter 10 in: Bulkan, J.; Palmer, J.; Larson, A.M.; Hobley, M. (eds.) Routledge Handbook of Community Forestry. New York: Routledge. DOI: 10.4324/9780367488710-13.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Hovis, M.; Frey, G.; McGinley, K.; Cubbage, F.; Han, X.; Lupek, M. 2022. Ownership, governance, uses, and services of community forests in the eastern United States. Forests 13: 1577. DOI: 10.3390/f13101577.

Progress 03/01/21 to 02/28/22

Outputs
Target Audience:At this stage of our project, our primary audience includes organizations that might seek to establish or support community forests. This includes land trusts, local governments, community-based organizations, tribal governments and tribal organizations, federal and state agencies. Changes/Problems:We have no major changes or problems to report. Of a more minor nature is the fact that delays in implementation of the grant agreement, along with the pandemic have slowed work on objective 2. We originally planned to do one or more case studies in year 1, this now is moved to year 2. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have formed two advisory panels - one consisting primarily of governmental and non-governmental organizations, and another consisting of tribal contacts. We have met on several occasions to discuss findings so far and get input on how to proceed. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Obj. 1 - We will finalize and submit a manuscript exploring the various definitions of community forest in the U.S., how that interrelates with self-identification and participation in community forest policies. We will finalize and submit a manuscript summarizing the range of characteristics of community forests in terms of geophysical, ownership, financial, governance, management, and other variables. We will create a typology of community forests. Obj. 2 - We will finalize a case study protocol. Based on the typology, we will select cases that explore a range of community forests with diverse characteristics. We will begin the data collection for the first few cases. Obj. 3 - We will continue to dialogue with our advisory panels. We will seek to publish findings in scientific journals.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Obj. 1 - Since no "list" of community forests exists, our approach has been iterative. Further, many forest initiatives that do not identify as community forests have some characteristics that are similar. Our team has reached out to initiatives that either self-identify as community forest ("community forest" in the title) or have participated in a policy or program targeting community forests. This has led to creation of a list of 82 community forests across the country, which have provided information on geophysical, ownership, financial, governance, management, and other variables. We have summarized the data. We have written a chapter (in press) that explores the range in rights and responsibilities acquired and exercised by local communities in the designation and implementation of community forests under different ownership models, and how these different models affect community participation in forest management and decision-making at the local level. Obj. 2 - We have created a first draft case study protocol, which will be further developed. Obj. 3 - We have formed two advisory panels - one consisting primarily of governmental and non-governmental organizations, and another consisting of tribal contacts. We have met on several occasions to discuss findings so far and get input on how to proceed.

Publications