ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the economic and social factors that affected the development of professional forest management in the southeastern United States in the decades following the harvest of the primary longleaf pine forests. Complex and dynamic public and private ownership patterns and approaches to forest management characterize the forest landscape of the Southeast. The chapter addresses the three important changes that are affecting the forested landscape of the Southeast and its management in the 21st century. These changes include a wholesale divestiture of forest industry lands, the acceleration of land use change, and the changing demographics of family forest owners. These dynamics present both challenges and opportunities for restoration and management of longleaf pine across the region. Opportunities for longleaf pine restoration by corporate ownerships have traditionally been viewed as problematic and many challenges remain for these ownerships. For many private landowners, particularly those with large parcels, economic considerations play a role in their motivations for owning forestland.
