This past August, SFFI conducted seven focus group discussions and five in-depth interviews with woodland owners in Colorado, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. The focus groups and interviews were conducted to better understand two of the four landowner segments identified by SFFI: Woodland Retreat Owners and Working the Land Owners. Conversations lasted about 90 minutes and involved between 3 and 12 participants.
The interviews add to a set of focus groups conducted by SFFI in the Midwest in 2009, which also explored the fundamental orientations of Woodland Retreat and Working the Land Owners towards their woods and tested specific message ideas.
Building on this earlier research, SFFI tested how these two types of woodland owners interact with their woods, what actions they currently perform, and what might motivate them to perform more desirable management actions. The lessons learned during the focus group discussions can provide guidance for messages and programs designed to reach and persuade each of these two landowner segments.
To read the key takeaways from the 2014 focus group report, click here. A copy of the full report is also available on our “Resources” page.