Characterizing community forests in the United States: Survey data on ownership, objectives, and other key characteristics from 2020 to 2023

This data publication contains quantitative and qualitative data on 98 community forests in the United States, including data on their location, size, ownership, governance, management objectives, and benefits. These data were collected through a 2020-2023 online survey designed to inventory and catalog community forests in the United States. The 98 community forests in this database span private, public, and tribal lands, demonstrate varied governance approaches and strategies, and are managed for a range of forest goods and services. Recreation and environmental services were identified as the most important management goals and timber production occurred on more than two-thirds of the forests in the database.
The primary purposes for collecting these data on community forests (CFs) in the United States were fourfold: (1) identify, inventory, and characterize CFs at a national scale; (2) enhance understanding of CF ownership and governance structures, management objectives, and sources of income; (3) extend knowledge of the variability in CF forms and build on previous work to refine a CF typology; and (4) problematize how CFs in the United States are identified (i.e., what is included, what is not, and why).
For more information about this study and these data, see Hajjar et al. (2024).