Landowners' willingness to accept for sustainable forest management in the Cross-Timbers region, USA

The Cross-Timbers (CT) region, spanning southern Kansas through central Oklahoma into Texas, is a vital forested area with millions of residents in urban centers like Tulsa, Oklahoma City, and the Dallas Metroplex. Covering nearly 27 million acres suitable for livestock, this region plays a critical role in agriculture and recreation. However, much of the land remains underutilized in terms of active management for ecosystem services. This study evaluates landowners' preferences for sustainable forest management using a novel survey method, Double-Bounded Best-Worst Choice (DBBWC), which combines Best-Worst Scaling with Double-Bound Contingent Valuation. The results reveal that landowners prioritize compensation of $110 per ha acre per year, compensation of $80 per ha acre per year, and low-intensity thinning as the most preferred forest management practices. In contrast, prescribed burning once a year was ranked least favorable. Additionally, landowners' willingness to accept (WTA) compensation for implementing prescribed burning annually was $96.77 per acre, while for high-intensity thinning, the WTA was $35.86. These findings provide valuable insights into landowners' preferences for forest management and suggest how financial incentives could influence decisions about ecosystem service provision. The study's results are relevant for policy development, particularly for U.S. Forest Service Land Management Plans and broader National Forest Management strategies.