Forest Landowners and Advisor Relationships: Creating Collaborative Connections to Care Well for Forests

Figures & data

Table 1. Demographics of NLOs by advisor type.

Advisor Type	Peer	Forester
Number Interviewed	16	17
Gender
Male	14	13
Female	1	3
Married couple	1	1
Acreage owned (ac)
<10	1	3
10–100	8	6
100–1000	7	5
>1000	0	3
Prior Training (Self-Identified)
None	9	2
Some informal	7	14
Some formal	0	1
Land acquisition
Purchased independently	11	6
Purchased jointly	1	2
Purchased from family	2	5
Inherited	2	4
Had Prior Engagement with an Advisor (same or different type)	9	9

Table 2. Themes of interactional experience as described by NLOs who interacted with two advisor types.

Themes	Description	Participants Captured
NLO-Peer Group
Conversation Creates Connection	Casual nature of experience allowed for getting to know each other, sharing	13
Learning	NLOs sought peers to share their knowledge as a source of wisdom; allowed for new perspectives and plans of action	16
Value of Lived Experiences	Similar life experiences created a shared understanding of each other’s values and beliefs; trust in each other’s insights​	13
Value of a Personal Connection	Now have peer as a personal resource; created comfort to take mgmt. action	14
NLO-Forester Group
Behavior of the Forester	Forester's actions, language mattered: patience, listening, caring about NLO's goals	15
Meeting Expectations	Low expectations: hoped what forester said would happen did; satisfaction pivoted on this	14
Value of Multiple Roles	Important that forester filled multiple roles	17
Value of a Relationship with the Forester	Interpersonal relationship, developed out of NLO's assessment of forester's character, personal similarity; vital for hiring and working with forester	15
Trust	Vital for believing forester, let alone hiring; created when forester validated willingness to adopt NLOs goals in mgmt.	17