The Woods around the Ivory Tower: A Systematic Review Examining the Value and Relevance of School Forests in the United States

Kimberly J. Coleman, Elizabeth E. Perry, Dominik Thom, Tatiana M. Gladkikh, William S. Keeton, Peter W. Clark, Ralph E. Tursini and Kimberly F. Wallin
Additional contact information
Kimberly J. Coleman: Center for Earth and Environmental Science, State University of New York at Plattsburgh, Plattsburgh, NY 12901, USA
Elizabeth E. Perry: Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA
Dominik Thom: Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA
Tatiana M. Gladkikh: Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA
William S. Keeton: Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA
Peter W. Clark: Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA
Ralph E. Tursini: Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA
Kimberly F. Wallin: Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 2, 1-16

Abstract: Throughout the United States, many institutions of higher education own forested tracts, often called school forests, which they use for teaching, research, and demonstration purposes. These school forests provide a range of benefits to the communities in which they are located. However, because administration is often decoupled from research and teaching, those benefits might not always be evident to the individuals who make decisions about the management and use of school forests, which may undervalue their services and put these areas at risk for sale, development, or over-harvesting to generate revenue. To understand what messages are being conveyed about the value and relevance of school forests, we conducted a systematic literature review and qualitatively coded the resulting literature content using an ecosystem services framework. While school forests provide many important benefits to academic and local communities, we found that most of the existing literature omits discussions about cultural ecosystem services that people may receive from school forests. We discuss the implications of this omission and make recommendations for addressing it.

Keywords: cultural ecosystem services; school forests; community forestry; forest planning and management; higher education; relevance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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