Economic incentives for coordinated management of forest land: a case study of southern New England

Coordinated management among many private forest land owners will often be required to achieve ecosystem management at the landscape scale. A case study of landowners in southern New England shows that although most hold favorable attitudes towards coordinated management, economic incentives may be needed to actually implement coordinated management programs. Yet the conjoint analyses used in this study suggests that economic incentives, such as property tax reductions, are not likely to substantially increase the probability that coordinated management programs will actually be undertaken. For example, an increase in property tax savings from $706 per year to $2000 per year only increased the probability of program adoption from 1.4 to 5.6%. Alternative ways in which coordinated management programs might be marketed are discussed.