ABSTRACT

Recent USDA Forest Service studies estimate that more than 10 million individuals own close to 50 percent of the forestland in the U.S. (Butler and Leatherberry 2003). They are by far the dominant ownership class in the country (Figure 17.1). These individuals have been called “nonindustrial private forestland owners,” or NIPF owners, because they are not directly involved in the processing of forest products, nor do they own public lands such as the National Forests or state/municipal forests. Discussions about managing industrial and public forestlands can be found in related Chapters 16 and 18. Understanding and

managing the forests of the nonindustrial private landowner at the wildland-urban interface is a complex undertaking that involves creative thinking and innovation.