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Bill Cook
ESCANABA Owning a woodland is the dream of many. But how does one “kick the tires” when looking at property?
Forest ownership encompasses a small minority of Michigan citizens. Let’s be up-front about this. Less than two percent of the human population owns ten acres or more. However, this accounts for about 40 percent of the forest area, or about eight million acres. That’s a lot of forest owned by a few. The rest of the forest is owned by a mix of governments, corporations, and a short list of other private groups.
In Michigan, three-quarters of the “family forest” was purchased, with most of the remainder inherited. According to the National Woodland Owner Survey, a U.S. Forest Service research tool, the big reasons to own forestland are wildlife, scenery, hunting, and privacy.