Planning for the future of forests: What drives landowners' estate planning decisions in the Southern United States?

Nearly 86% of forestlands in the Southern United States are owned by private forest landowners, and about two-thirds of this area is owned by Family Forest Owners (FFOs). Forest legacy planning is crucial for ensuring the long-term sustainability of these forests. It includes formal aspects, such as estate planning, and informal aspects, such as discussions with the next generation about forest management plans. This study examines the factors that influence landowners' estate planning decisions. We evaluate how landowners' characteristics, behaviors, and motivations influence their estate planning, in general and specifically in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, as a disruptive exogenous shock. Drawing from a regional survey of FFOs across the Southern United States, we evaluate which landowners were more likely to have an estate plan (as an indicator of formal forest legacy planning) and which were more likely to have made or updated their plans during or after the pandemic. We find that 73% of respondents have created an estate plan, including 28% during or after the pandemic. Landowners are more likely to have estate plans if they are older, inherited their land, own larger forest acreages, and report that their primary motivation for owning forestland is as an investment. Landowners who reported being affected by the pandemic and whose families experienced employment disruptions during the pandemic were more likely to update their estate plans during or after the pandemic. The study highlights the complexity of estate planning among FFOs and how disruptive events influence planning and decision-making.