Public and Forest Owner Views on Climate Change and Carbon Management in the US

Introduction

Forests have a significant impact on the global climate by sequestering carbon from the atmosphere through the process of photosynthesis. Nature-based carbon offset projects help mitigate climate change by using forest management to store additional carbon on the landscape. 

Over 39% of forests in the United States are owned and managed by private individuals and families, many of which vary in their management goals, practices, and relationships with the land. In Pennsylvania 70 percent of the forestlands are privately owned and about half of Florida’s forestlands are owned by individual landowners. A growing number of offset project developers are looking to partner with private landowners to sell carbon credits. Discussions about carbon markets often require at least a passing mention of climate change which some landowners may avoid to avoid potential conflict and its underlying political implications. This article examines people's views about climate change and explores ways to frame discussions to better support decision-making.

Public Opinions about Climate Change

The Yale Climate Opinion survey is an annual survey led by Yale University across the US since 2008. While opinions can vary from state to state, according to this survey, views in Pennsylvania and Florida are similar to national averages. At the national level, 72% of Americans believe that global warming is happening, and 70% of the public believe climate change will harm plants and animals (Figure 1). 

The Yale survey also reveals that fifty-nine percent of Americans believe that global warming is caused by people, and that there must be action taken to address climate change (Marlon et al. 2025). In fact, 74% of Americans believe that carbon emissions should be regulated as a pollutant (Marlon et al. 2025).

There is slightly less agreement on the question of who should take responsibility for addressing climate change and carbon emissions. For example, 68% of people think corporations should do more to address global warming (Marlon et al. 2025). Many Fortune 500 companies are already doing this by setting net-zero carbon goals and purchasing carbon credits to offset their emissions. For example, the voluntary carbon market allows companies that care about their Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) ratings to address their emissions by purchasing carbon credits. As a result, a growing number of investors are looking to install nature-based carbon offset projects on private lands in the US.

Just over half of survey participants (55%) think their governors should do more to address global warming. Governors can play a central role in shaping and implementing greenhouse gas (GHG) initiatives within their states. The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a collaborative program in the Northeastern U.S., includes Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont. This initiative regulates the emissions of utility companies through the use of compliance markets or "cap and trade programs". In a compliance market, industry emissions are regulated by setting targets and allowing the trade of carbon credits to meet those targets. Many states in the southeastern US, including Florida, do not participate in compliance markets.

The Yale study also revealed a major gap in public communication around climate change. Only 36% of people reported "discussing global warming at least occasionally" and only 28% said that they hear about climate change in the news or media at least once a week (Marlon et al. 2025). The differences between public concern and the amount of discussions that take place—both publicly and privately—indicates that healthy dialogue is hard to find. To better understand how individuals would like to address shared concerns, it is essential to provide trustworthy information and create safe spaces for open and constructive conversation.

Family Forest Owner Priorities

Insights into family forest owners beliefs about climate change and priorities for owning their land can be found in the 2018 National Woodlands Owner Survey (NWOS), which is conducted by the USDA Forest Service and the National Woodland Owners Association. Here we present data from family forest owners in Pennsylvania and Florida, to better understand how lived experiences and regions may shape landowner concern and priorities regarding climate change.  

Directly comparing the Yale survey with the NWOS survey is challenging, but the findings indicate some significant trends. For example, the NWOS survey reported that 61% of family forest owners in Pennsylvania express great or moderate concern about climate change. This level of concern is slightly lower than the general public's concern in Pennsylvania, according to the Yale survey, which found that 68% of respondents are worried about the impact of climate change on plants and animals.

In Florida, the trends differ. The NWOS survey revealed that 82% of landowners in Florida have great or moderate concern about climate change, which is noticeably higher than the 70% of respondents from the Yale survey in Florida, who expressed concern about how climate change will affect plant and animal species.

Overall, these findings suggest that perceptions of climate change risks may vary between landowners and the general public across different regions. Understanding these differences could be important for fostering meaningful conversations about climate change. 

Regardless of views on climate change, landowners and the general public share overlapping concerns regarding the care of plants and animals in the future. In Pennsylvania, 88% of landowners in the NWOS agree or strongly agree that they want their land to remain wooded, and 70% indicate that protecting or improving wildlife habitat is a significant reason for owning forestland (Figure 3). Likewise, 82% of family forest owners in Florida agree/strongly agree they want their land to remain wooded, and 84% view protecting or improving wildlife habitat as a primary management objective (Figure 3).

Forest Owners, Carbon Management and Markets

Managing forests to sequester more carbon is one way of addressing climate change; however, land ownership comes with multiple responsibilities and priorities. Research has found that recreation and wildlife-related management goals and opportunity costs tend to have a greater role in landowner decision-making than concerns about climate change or carbon management (Kreye et al., 2021). However, the possibility of securing another stream of income could provide landowners with sufficient motivation to consider carbon management.

Since carbon markets are a developing industry, it is essential to have informed discussions among stakeholders about the role of forest carbon management in addressing climate change. Unfortunately, many landowners are unsure of how to initiate these conversations. According to the National Woodland Owner Survey (NWOS), 85% of landowners in Pennsylvania and 83% in Florida reported being unfamiliar with carbon sequestration programs, highlighting the need for educational outreach. Furthermore, additional research is necessary to better understand how carbon management and carbon incentives might affect existing risks to forests (such as floods and wildfires), support other management objectives (like wildlife habitats), and influence ecological resilience and timber production.

How is Extension Encouraging Healthy Conversations?

Researchers at Penn State and the University of Florida recognize the need for improved public discourse about climate change. The FOCABIS project at Penn State is exploring the climate benefits of managing for bird habitat on private forest lands to help inform future extension programming on wildlife management. Similarly, the ACT AT Forests project at Penn State is examining how forest carbon markets can help support local jobs and biodiversity protection. The outcomes of this research are disseminated through the FOCCE program, which provides landowners and the public with information on the future of forests under a changing climate, as well as ways that family forest owners can earn income by sequestering carbon on their land. The role of extension in supporting community engagement is key. Evaluation surveys show that after attending FOCCE programs, a third of participants were more willing to talk about carbon management and climate change with their peers (FOCCE Annual report 2024). 

At the University of Florida, there is no specific program focused exclusively on forest landowner education and climate change. However, there are various programs that provide educational materials for forest landowners to understand management options including for climate change and carbon markets. These UF programs include forest management resources provided by the Florida Land Steward along with blogs, webinars and newsletter articles published open access in UF/IFAS Electronic Data Information Source (EDIS) database such as 1) Forest Carbon Bulletin: Defining the Terms, 2) Forest Carbon: A Potential Source of Income for Forest Owners and 3) Carbon Markets. Faculty and staff at UF SFFGS have been exploring various avenues to provide relevant and timely information.

Conclusion

Understanding both public and landowner perspectives on climate change is important for supporting private forests and addressing climate change. While concern about climate change is widespread, there are differences across regions and landowner groups that influence how people may engage with forest carbon opportunities. Fortunately, shared values, such as a commitment to wildlife and forest stewardship, can provide common ground for meaningful conversations. As the climate and carbon markets continue to evolve, extension professionals will remain key partners in ensuring that family forest owners have the knowledge and tools they need to support a healthy climate and a healthy forest.

References

Forest Owner Carbon and Climate Education Program (FOCCE) Annual Report 2024. Retrieved from Final-2024-Annual-Report-FOCCE.pdf  

FORCABIS: Forest Carbon & Avian Biodiversity Integrated Silviculture. Retrieved from FORCABIS | Forest Carbon & Avian Biodiversity Integrated Silviculture

 Augmenting Climate Transitions across the Atlantic Transect (ACT-AT) Project. Retrieved from ACT-AT Forests.

Krantz, S. A., & Monroe, M. C. (2016). Message framing matters: Communicating climate change with forest landowners. Journal of Forestry, 114(2), 108-115.

Kreye, M. M., Adams, D. C., Soto, J. R., Tanner, S., & Rimsaite, R. (2021). Economic and ethical motivations for forest restoration and incentive payments. Society & Natural Resources, 34(8), 1093-1110.

Marlon, J. R., Howe, P., Mildenberger, M., Wang, X., Leiserowitz, A. (2025). Yale Climate Opinion Maps 2023. Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. 

National Woodland Owner Survey. (2023). USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 

Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). (2024). About the Program. 

Family Forest Carbon Program. (n.d.). How the Program Works. American Forest Foundation and The Nature Conservancy.

Penn State Climate Consortium. (2024). Climate Solutions Symposium & Accelerators. Penn State.