Managing timberland can increase productivity and income for owners, but serious constraints to meeting these or other goals face owners of heir property. The term heir property is used to describe property owned as an undivided interest among heirs of an original owner who died without a probated will. Heirs may be numerous, span multiple generations and geographies, and have very different connections to the land. Heir property is a common phenomenon among African American landowners in the southeastern United States ("South"), a region where timberland represents over 60 percent of total land use. Because owners are numerous, title to the land is considered "clouded," limiting access to government programs and commercial credit that could be used to engage in the many activities (e.g., stand establishment, fertilization, prescribed burning, thinning, harvesting, replanting) associated with timberland management. We use available data to estimate that over one million acres of timberland in the South are owned as heir property. We document the financial costs and the specific obstacles likely to be encountered by heir property owners, including long time horizons associated with timberland management and the likelihood that heir owners representing different generations may not agree on how to manage the property. We propose a set of policy changes that state and federal government agencies could consider to increase productivity and income for heir property owners while improving overall forest health.

Production of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) offers a way for landowners to generate income without harvesting timber. In Alabama, pine straw is a NTFP with strong market potential, but the market is relatively undeveloped compared to markets in some other Southeastern states. A mail survey was conducted to assess the willingness of landowners to engage in alternative forestry enterprises, including pine straw harvesting. Those who owned a relatively large forest area (especially of planted pine), had used a consulting forester, and lived outside of the county where their forestland was located had higher levels of interest in harvesting pine straw for profit. Landowners who resided in the same county as their forestland expected higher prices for their pine straw than absentee owners. Primary concerns among landowners interested in harvesting pine straw were related to lack of technical information and lack of a product market.

Landownership is an important form of wealth, especially in a natural-resource dependent region such as the Black Belt of Alabama. We examine the connection between property ownership, land cover, and the wellbeing of communities in Macon County, Alabama. This study is an exploratory application of geographic information systems to integrate information from property tax assessment records, land cover data, and a well-being index based on census data. Research questions regarding the relationships between socioeconomic well-being, land tenure, and land cover were tested on rural parcels 50 acres or larger (N=1418). Test results reveal statistically significant relationships between socioeconomic conditions and absentee ownership (both out-of-state and out-of-county) and land cover type (in particular, evergreen forestland). Analyses of research findings offer insight to the cultural-ecological connections within the Black Belt and prompts exploration of the notion of space as political.

We examined national, regional, and Alabama newspaper coverage of biofuels development to observe variation in coverage and to understand the role of media on controversial issues of national importance. The years covered, 2007-2009, coincided with peak media interest in biofuels. Our focus on Alabama and the South is justified by the potential for biofuels development present in that state and region. We hypothesized that sources quoted would vary by topics, that article tone would vary depending on biofuel type and associated feedstock, and that tone would vary depending on whether the focus was on local economic impacts or broader issues related to biofuels. All three hypotheses were supported. We conclude that newspapers in this study have served as conduits for the views of local growth machine coalitions, but that when the focus extended to issues beyond the local realm, newspapers have played a different role, actively contributing to public discussion and policy debate. The role of media in shaping public policy and the implications of media bias have both been subjects of numerous studies (Bennett 1990; Fitzgerald, Campbell,

Pine straw is a popular landscape mulch material used by landowners and homeowners throughout the southeastern United States. Pine straw is collected, transported, and sold through an informal network of landowners, harvesters, forest labor contractors, and dealers. Quality varies widely, depending on factors such as species of pines, land management practices, and harvesting techniques. A mail survey of landscapers, retailers, and lawn maintenance specialists was used to assess market demand and characteristic preferences of those buying and selling pine straw in Alabama. Purchase volumes varied widely among buyers, both annually and for single-time purchases. Buyers placed high importance on straw free from weeds and foreign material. There were differences in species of pine straw purchased among respondents, some of which appear attributable to location of the buyer. While there was a strong preference for longleaf pine straw, those who reported purchasing loblolly and slash were more likely to prefer those species. Responses from buyers who know their pine straw's origin reveal differences in the distance from which they purchase pine straw, with many buying straw from more than 150 miles away. Results also show that many do not know where their pine straw comes from or what species it is.

We examine the potential rural development impacts of a highly decentralized system of feedstock production, biorefining, and consumption of locally-produced lignocellulosic biofuels in Alabama, a heavily forested state in the southeastern United States. Primary data based on in-depth interviews and public presentations by experts were used to establish a realistic scenario for development of a lignocellulosic biofuels industry in Alabama. Based on these data, we applied an input output model to illustrate economic impacts of establishing six biorefineries, each with an annual capacity of 189 dam(3). We applied this same model to analyze the impact of one biorefinery of that size on a set of rural counties in west Alabama, a region characterized both by abundant timber resources and persistent rural poverty. Research findings reveal a high potential for economic development and job growth, especially in the logging sector and in rural regions of the state. The trajectory of this development and distribution of benefits from this incipient industry will depend on federal, state and local policies. We identify types of policies that would simultaneously encourage growth of this industry and ensure that those who live in areas where production and refining operations take place benefit from this development. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The existing literature identifies heir property, land held communally by heirs of someone who has died without a will, as a primary cause of land loss among African Americans and a major factor contributing to persistent poverty in the South’s demographically-defined Black Belt. Despite the importance of this form of property, little systematic research has been done to quantify the extent of heir property or the potential wealth tied up in clouded titles. This study documents the presence of more than 1,500 heir property parcels in one Alabama Black Belt county (Macon) and describes the methodological challenges involved in such research. Our analysis identified distinctive characteristics of and significant relationships between a set of key ownership variables (taxpayer location, size and value of land, structural improvements, and municipal incorporation). We argue the need to document the extent and consequences of heir property to spur action by legislators, Extension Systems across the region, and pro-bono attorneys, among others, to address the personal and economic costs associated with this form of insecure ownership. When a landowner dies intestate (without a probated will), state laws of descent and distribution regulate what happens to the property, which usually gets passed as an undivided unit to the decedent’s heirs. Because there is no right of survivorship, the property becomes further fractionalized and the number of coowners increases with each passing generation. Often only one or a handful of heirs remain on the land, paying taxes and maintaining the property. Yet these co-owners hold no more legal claim to the land than those living several states away. This form of property ownership (legally known as “tenancy in common”) is common among low-income rural populations, including Appalachians and Native Americans (see Deaton 2009; Gilbert and Sharp 2001). The prevalence of heir property relegates “a broad group of African Americans who inherited land through intestacy to a disadvantaged class of property ownership” (Rivers 2007:7). Heir property can be a source of family unity and a place of sanctuary in time of need, but the literature is full of conflicts over heir property that have torn

In the past decade ownership of the corporate forestry sector in the USA has undergone remarkable transformation. Corporate consolidation, separation of processing capacity ownership from timberland ownership, and disinvestment from timberland ownership altogether have occurred rapidly and on a global scale. Vertically-integrated forest products companies, once the standard model for publically-traded corporations, have all but disappeared. A new class of timberland investors now dominates the timberland estate. These new owners can be viewed as the most recent manifestation of capital from the core seeking rent in the distant periphery. While in this respect they resemble their industrial forestry predecessors, they differ markedly with regard to landholding objectives, time horizons, management capacities and other characteristics. This transformation has created new challenges and opportunities for other forest owners and for rural communities. Many timber processing mills have closed, restricting markets for smallholder wood. While much former industrial timberland remains in industrial-style timber management, some has been subdivided for ‘highest and best use,’ and conservation buyers have assumed control of a few large blocks. Further fragmentation of the industrial forest estate is anticipated, presenting both challenges and opportunities to small-scale forest owners and rural communities. This paper outlines the dynamics of forest ownership restructuring, posits alternative future scenarios for small-scale forestry, and points to potentially useful future research.

Heir property is land held communally by family members of a landowner who has died intestate. Because this informal arrangement does not fit neatly into the individualist-centered, integrated property rights system of the United States, it is viewed by most as a hindrance to economic development and capitalism. We present an alternative framework for analyzing the significance of heir property in the African American community and its constraints. While the consequences of owning land with clouded title are clear-ineligibility for housing programs, inability to secure a mortgage or sell timber, and vulnerability to land loss through partition and tax sales-we argue that a culturally-based understanding of heir property provides insight to why it persists among rural African Americans. Based on personal interviews with heir property owners, lawyers, housing counselors, and county officials, the authors illustrate how heir property is supportive of certain cultural values and meets the needs of a subset of rural populations in ways that other forms of property ownership cannot.