Quick quiz: What percentage of Oregon forest owners are under 45? 30%? 20%? 10%? The actual figure is just 6%, according to a 2005 OFRI survey. That won’t come as a big surprise to anyone who has attended a recent small woodlands gathering and noted the abundance of gray hair. More than half of Oregon’s family forest owners are over 65, and the national figure is very similar. Over the next two decades or so, many thousands of acres in the state – and millions of acres nationally – will change hands.
From: http://www.invw.org/article/oregon-family-forests-1539
What will happen to these lands? Will they continue to be managed as working forests? Will the owners’ hard work and dedicated stewardship over many years be maintained? Or will the land be cutover, subdivided, and developed, or simply taken over by a new owner who neglects or takes poor care of the property? In a nutshell, this is the concern many owners have as they look to the future. And it’s a very real issue, given the challenges of passing land on intact to heirs, or devising a strategy that will help maintain past stewardship practices with a new set of owners.
OSU’s award-winning Ties to the Land program is designed to help families work through the challenges of passing the land on from one generation in the family to the next.
However, the reality is that some forest owners don’t have children or other heirs who are interested in, available, or capable of taking over their property. As stated by one local woodland owner, “Neither of our adult daughters are candidates to live and care for our timber property. At 70 and 71, our years are numbered as active caretakers, so we’d like to explore how feasible it is to find a younger couple/family who is interested …”
Recently, Marty Main and I convened a small group of woodland owners to discuss options for owners who want to maintain their property legacy, but don’t anticipate passing the land on to heirs. If this situation applies to you, you may be asking yourself some of these questions: Do I want to stay on it as long as I can or until my death, or am I ready to sell/transition now? Do I want to sell the land, or lease it, or donate it? What about a conservation easement? Where can I find owners who share my values and management approach? How can I provide an inheritance for my children or other heirs or beneficiaries, even if they aren’t willing or able to take over the property?
Since individual owner goals, needs and situations are so variable, there are no universal solutions, but we are starting to address some of these questions and brainstorm possible answers. If you are interested in learning more or participating, please contact:
Max Bennett
OSU Extension Forestry and Natural Resources
Max.bennett@oregonstate.edu
(541) 776-7371 x221
Marty Main
Small Woodland Service, Inc.
mmain3@mind.net
(541) 778-4545
