The Finnish Society of Forest Science · The Finnish Forest Research Institute SILVA FENNICA Silva Fennica 44(2) research articles Family Forest Owners ’ Opinions about

• Main Authors: Forest Management, Northern Finland, Ville Hallikainen, Leena Pernu, Jouni Puoskari
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Northern Finland
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.627.4444; http://www.metla.fi/silvafennica/full/sf44/sf442363.pdf

Forest management guidelines changed at the end of the 1990’s in Finland. Biodiversity, visual landscape, water systems, and different forms of forest use are now better taken into account. The objectives, outdoor recreation motives, and attitudes towards the present forest management activities of the non-industrial private forest owners called family forest owners in this article, whose forest holdings are located in northern Finland, were studied. In addition, a forest owner typology based on the above-mentioned motives, objectives, and attitudes was created, and the relationship between the typology and the forest owners ’ background was tested. Principal component analysis, log-linear models, canonical correlations, and K-means cluster analysis were used in the data analysis. The results showed that especially commercial timber production, but also multiple-use forestry, is important for forest owners. Non-timber products such as game, berries, and forest mushrooms were considered more important than biodiversity, conservation of endangered species, tourism, and reindeer herding. The cur-rent, more ecological forest management activities were widely accepted by the owners. The changes had been perceived in the forest management activities. Close relationships were found between the objectives, attitudes and motives of the forest owners. Those owners who