NIPF tax incentives: Do they make a difference?

Abstract

Survey research is used to evaluate how property tax reductions affect the land-use practices and attitudes of nonindustrial private forest landowners in rural Tennessee. The comparison between participants and nonparticipants in the Tennessee Greenbelt program (rather than the determinants of participation itself) provides a basis for evaluating the effectiveness of such incentives. No meaningful differences in the reported behavior relevant to the objectives of the program were found between the two groups, even in the area facing the strongest development pressures.