Non-industrial private landowners hold about two-thirds of the forest land in the southern United States. The types of public (state) and private (consulting and industrial) assistance offered to these owners is reviewed. In total, about 1,600 foresters in the South provide management assistance to non-industrial private forest owners. They assist at least 72,000 owners annually, including provision of management plans for about 10 million acres and supervision of over 4 million acres of leased lands.
An empirical analysis of the Finnish non-industrial private forest owners indicates that forestry extension has an effect on the supply of timber and the use of cutting potentials. This effect appears to be indirect rather than direct. The use of extension services is likely to increase the frequency of timber sales, which in turn, increases the use of the allowable cut via increased volume of actual cuttings. Forestry extension can also be considered as an intermediate variable through which certain background conditions and owner characteristics affect the use of cutting potential.