A landowner's reason for owning their land is the single most significant factor shaping their orientation to their woods and the actions they take. They are a diverse mix of people who have many and varied reasons for owning land—they include rugged timbermen, country folk, urbanites, farmers, environmentalists, avid hunters, overworked professionals, and a host of other groups. Unsurprisingly, each of these groups will be motivated by different messages and emotions.
Using data from the National Woodland Owner Survey (NWOS), our team has created profiles of more than 30 landowner segments based on characteristics, such as level of engagement, management practices, and size of land holdings. These profiles help you understand the variety of landowners in your area. So whether you want to know more about all the landowners in your state, or a specific group of them (such as farmers, or absentee landowners, or those who have harvested trees), you can find a data-based profile for that landowner segment in this section.
TELE divides landowners into four broad groups based on their reasons for owning land. Because this analysis focuses on motivations, it is a particularly useful grouping strategy for designing communications with landowners. You can learn more about the TELE landowner segments by clicking the left box below.