Nonindustrial private forest (NIPF) land represents approximately 48 percent of the forest land cover in the United States, and conscientious stewardship of these forests is a perennial issue facing natural resource professionals. In an attempt to draw on the strengths of NIPF ownership, some entrepreneurial forest landowners are developing forest landowner cooperatives. In this proceedings of a satellite conference, we present information designed to help natural resource professionals and cooperative development specialists to: (1) gain a better understanding of cooperatives and a deeper insight into some of the successes and challenges of cooperatives; (2) evaluate whether the forestry cooperative model is right for your area and, if so, how to further the discussion locally; (3) see how cooperatives can complement other landowner assistance programs such as Tree Farm, Forest Stewardship, and woodland owner associations; and (4) hear first hand about the experiences of forestry cooperative initiatives in Massachusetts, Virginia, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Washington.

The Forest Products Marketing Laboratory of the U.S.D.A. Forest Service's Northeastern Forest Experiment Station has been studying the history of the forestry cooperative, and has analyzed the experiences of the cooperatives that have failed as well as those that have succeeded. In addition, the New Services Division of the U.S.D.A. Farmer Cooperative Service has a continuous program of research to assist members and managers of cooperatives. Out of these studies we can offer some practical guidelines to any group that is thinking about starting a forestry cooperative.

In recent decades, community forestry has taken root across Canada. Locally run initiatives are lauded as welcome alternatives to large corporate and industrial logging practices, yet little research has been done to document their tangible outcomes or draw connections between their ideals of local control, community benefit, ecological stewardship, and economic diversification and the realities of community forestry practice. This book brings together the work of over twenty-five researchers to provide the first comparative and empirically rich portrait of community forestry policy and practice in Canada. Tackling all of the forestry regions from Newfoundland to British Columbia, it unearths the history of community forestry, revealing surprising regional differences linked to patterns of policy-making and cultural traditions. Case studies celebrate innovative practices in governance and ecological management while uncovering challenges related to government support and market access. The future of the sector is also considered, including the role of institutional reform, multiscale networks, and adaptive management strategies.