Landowner Attitudes Toward Multifunctional Riparian Forest Buffers

Open Access
- Author:
- Ferich, Andrea Carol
- Graduate Program:
- Forest Resources
- Degree:
- Master of Science
- Document Type:
- Master Thesis
- Date of Defense:
- November 16, 2020
- Committee Members:
- Elizabeth Weeks Boyer, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor
Bradley Cardinale, Program Head/Chair
James Craig Finley, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor
Allyson Muth, Committee Member
Frans J G Padt, Committee Member - Keywords:
- riparian
buffer
landowner
agroforestry
non-timber forest products
water quality
best management practices
forestry
forest - Abstract:
- Riparian forest buffers are among the most essential best management practices for improving water quality in Pennsylvania and the Mid-Atlantic region. The Chesapeake Bay Program has set specific goals for the state of Pennsylvania to greatly increase the length of streams protected by riparian buffers toward improving downstream water quality, yet the state is behind in meeting these targets. Since large segments of riparian lands are privately owned, an understanding of diverse landowner values and behaviors will inform future buffer project implementation strategies. To assess landowners’ willingness (or lack thereof) to plant riparian buffers, a survey was conducted of private riparian landowners within the Upper Penns Creek Watershed of central Pennsylvania. The theory of planned behavior (TPB) suggests that current behaviors explain the likelihood of future behavior. Findings indicate that landowner occupation, education, land use, environmental values, and past behaviors toward riparian lands explain the likelihood to plant riparian forest buffers toward multifunctional ecological and socioeconomic goals. The top five reasons surveyed landowners were interested in planting or maintaining riparian buffers are to stabilize the streambank, improve water quality, aesthetic beauty, to enjoy wildlife, recreation, and solitude. The findings demonstrate the need for applying transdisciplinary approaches sensitive to individual landowner values and behaviors in watershed management decision-making, weaving together ecological and socioeconomic values. The study results reveal that there are tremendous new opportunities for planting riparian buffers in Pennsylvania, where the vast majority (76%) of respondents indicated being very likely or likely to plant trees or shrubs in the future in a riparian buffer on their property, and where 30 percent of respondents expressed interest in learning more about buffers. This study reveals the potential for invigorating interest among landowners in planting new multifunctional buffers through incentive and education efforts. The concept of multifunctional buffers, offering landowners the potential to generate additional income from harvesting products (such as nuts, berries, woody florals, forbs, and potentially woody biomass), provides new incentives for landowners to install riparian buffers on their property. Encouraging the expansion of riparian forest buffers will continue to benefit both natural resources and socioeconomic systems.