Effective and successful stewardship of private woodlands is a compelling challenge. As owners and potential managers of more than six million acres (about one-third) of the state’s total forested land, the Minnesota Forest Resources Council is building a renewed commitment to family forest landowners.

 

The need to reach out to family forest landowners was identified by the Council in 2020 when it reaffirmed its commitment to this landowner group in its strategic plan. The Council is taking this responsibility seriously. On September 17, 2022, the Council coordinated a meeting of key organizations who work and interact with family forest landowners for a new and enhanced effort to address the objectives of its strategic plan.

 

As a result of that meeting, the Council identified the need for a committee dedicated to private lands; consequently, the Family Forest Landowners Committee (FFL) was formed. It is hoped that this committee’s guidance will assist all Council committees by helping them stay informed of family forest landowner issues and topics. The FFL’s charter details the added value of this committee to the Council.

 

Janet Erdman, private landowner representative on the Council and one of the catalysts behind the working group gathering, stresses that the Council intends to carry forward the momentum and learnings from the September forum, with intent to build “measurable and meaningful action to support active, well-informed management of the state’s private forested lands.”

 

Erdman’s fellow private landowner representative on the Council, Kathleen Preece, adds: “This is just the beginning! The Council looks to you: private landowners, service providers, custodians of some of the most indispensable of our natural resources – our forests - to take stock of your part of the woods and join in the Council’s commitment to responsible stewardship.”