Inheritance, Land Sales and the Future of Maine's Forests

Large areas of the world’s forests are being converted to non-forest use. Th is article examines factors influencing decisions of small forest landowners in Maine to convert or sell their land. Our analysis is based on a large-scale survey of a random sample drawn from the membership lists of organizations of forest landowners in 2005. Maine landowners are caught between countervailing pressures. Although many of them love their land and want to pass it to their heirs, there are many economic, legal and social pressures motivating forest landowners to sell or convert their property. Analysis of the data on the reasons to sell land suggests it would be expensive to curb forest conversion. Strategies that are likely to be effective in motivating forest landowners to maintain forest are expensive; those that can solve problems cheaply are apt to be ineffective.