Presentation given by my M.S. student Andrew Roe at the Society of American Foresters National Covention, 2010.

1. Forest OwnershipChange and Parcelization In the Hudson River Watershed Andrew W. Roe Dr. Shorna Broussard Allred

2. Threatened Private Forestlands New York State is projected to lose 1.6 million acres (8.9%) of its forestland to urban development by 2050 (Nowak and Walton, 2005)

3. Threatened Forested Watersheds The top 15 watersheds with increased housing density projected by 2050 (From Stein et al., “Forests on the Edge” USFS 2005) (Stein et al., USFS 2005)

4. Research Questions How is forestland currently owned and used in the Hudson River watershed? Where and how is forestland ownership changing? What does this mean for the future of forests and forestry?

5. The Hudson River Watershed Albany NYC Morning, Looking East over the Hudson Valley from Catskill Mountains -Frederic Edwin Church, 1844

6. Hudson Watershed Landcover (2001) Total Area: 10.8 million Acres 6.0% Developed 14.6% Agriculture 63.5% Forest 36.9% Deciduous 23.3% Evenly Mixed 3.4% Coniferous 4.3% Open Water (USGS GAP Analysis 2001)

7. Forest Landscape Change “A continuum of forest loss” (Best and Wayburn, 2001) “Forest Cover Complacency Syndrome” (LaPierre and Germain, 2005) The Hudson Valley in Winter from Olana -Frederic Edwin Church, 1871

8. Forestland Parcelization Tied to geography, household events, economics, lifestyle choices and market forces (Kleiman and Erickson 1996, DeCoster, 1998, Mehmood and Zhang 2001, King and Butler 2005, Donnelly and Evans 2008) Rates are not constant or connected to changes in overall population or income levels (Germain et al. 2006) Does not necessarily lead to forest loss or fragmentation (Kleiman and Erickson 1996)

9. How Parcelization Affects Privately Owned Forests Smaller properties: Limit economies of scale Reduce access Are treated as “backyards” instead of “forests”

10. How Parcelization Can Affect Privately Owned Forests Parcelization may also lead to: Changes in total forest area (Holdt and Civco 2004) (Gobster and Rickenbach 2003) (Kleiman and Erickson 1996) New owners and new values (Egan and Luloff, 2000) Greater numbers of owners and regulations (Wear et al. 1999) Changes in forest composition (Germain et al. 2007)

11. Quantifying Parcelization National trends in private forestland ownership and parcel size (Birch, 1996; Leatherberry, 2001; Butler and Leatherberry, 2004; Zhang et al., 2005). County-level calculations of forest parcel number and size (Drzyga and Brown, 1999; LaPierre and Germain, 2005; Germain et al., 2006; Mundell et al 2010) Individual parcel change typologies (Germain et al., 2007; Donnelly and Evans, 2008) (Donnelly and Evans, 2008)

12. Project Methods How is forestland currently owned and used? Determined acreage totals and distributions of current property status using 2009 Tax data Where and how is forestland ownership changing? Quantified extent of property ownership change using Sales data from 2000-2010 Mapped changes and examined using GIS

14. Acreage

15. Property classification

16. Land and building valuations

17. Coordinates of the property* Excluding 161,000 acre land deal between Finch Pruyn timber Co and The Nature Conservancy, 2007

18. Property Use Classifications Private Wild and Forest Lands- plantations, timber tracts, and forest lands without residential or agricultural uses. Potential Woodland: Agricultural- property used for the production of crops or livestock Rural Residential- property with 10 or more acres of land and year-round residence , may be used for agricultural production or recreation. Seasonal Residences- property with seasonally occupied dwelling units Rural Vacant land- land without dwelling units or productive farmland Hunting and Fishing Clubs- privately owned land managed for game fish and game.

19. Existing Private Forest and Potential Woodland

20. Current Land-Use Across the Watershed(2009) Total Number of Properties Total Acreage of Properties

21. Watershed Property Transfers (2000-2010) All Types of Properties: 986,425 parcels 4,742,833 acres Forest and Potential Woodland Properties: 193,620 parcels 3,285,272 acres (19.6%) (69.3%) Parcelized Forest and Potential Woodland: 17,914 parcels 347,424 acres (9.5%) (10.6%)

22. Private Forest and Potential Woodland Transfers in Each County (2000-2010) (Insert Map)

23. Divided Woodlands vs. Total Woodlands Sold in Each County (Insert Map)

24. Size Differences in Property Transfers # of Sales per class Size Classes (in Acres) of Properties Transferred

25. Land Use Transitions (2000-2010) All Land Transfers

26. Parcelized Land Use Transitions Non-Parcelized Properties Parcelized Properties

27. Changing Ownership

28. Unplanned Property Transfers

29. New Construction on Recently Vacant Land Redo 2000-2010 Acres of new construction map

30. Conclusions How is forestland currently owned and used in the Hudson River watershed? Private Forest and Potential Woodland exist in the highest quantities in the northern parts of the watershed

31. Conclusions Where and how is forestland ownership changing?

32. Conclusions What does this mean for the future of forests and forestry?

33. Future Research

34. Thanks! Questions? Suggestions? Andrew Roe Cornell University Department of Natural Resources awr45@cornell.edu