ABSTRACT
The relationship between human communities and adjacent forest lands has been studied from a variety of perspectives. This chapter examines how political decision making at the local level constrains the management of private forest land. It explains why local governments in particular types of counties and towns have sought to regulate the practice of forestry on privately owned lands. The chapter describes developments in local and state regulation in several regions of the country and presents a conceptual framework that relates community characteristics, patterns of political participation, and the content of local forest practice regulations. It explores data on local governments in Oregon and California in order to evaluate the explanation developed. The chapter discusses how changing resource values have motivated political changes in forest-based communities. Local regulation of forest practices has been an issue in both Oregon and California. These states were studied because of the political importance of the issue and the availability of information about local regulations.
