Woodland Owner Legacy Planning Benefits and Barriers

The Virginia Department of Forestry (VDOF) and Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) both seek to assist woodland owners in Virginia to pass their land forward to the next generation intact and in forest. Southside Virginia was selected as the study area because it contains large unfragmented family forest ownerships, contains a large proportion of high forest conservation value forestland, and a higher proportion of underserved populations relative to other parts of the Commonwealth. This Benefits and Barriers Analysis was undertaken to identify the barriers to, and benefits from, intergenerational land transfer planning as perceived by family forest owners.