Opinions and attitudes of practicing Consulting Foresters about the TVA/ACF Consulting Forester Assistance Program

In 1970, The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) initiated the Consulting Forester Assistance (CPA) Program. The program was a cooperative among TVA, the Association of Consulting Foresters (ACF), various state forestry agencies, and the U.S. Forest Service, State and Private Forestry. The program's objective was to assist in the establishment of new private forest consultants in the Tennessee Valley, a seven state region. The goal was to have new consultants work primarily with non-industrial private forest landowners as clients in private forestry development.

A key to past success of the 18-year program has been the strong support of cooperators, and their ability to find new noncompetitive geographic areas, not near established consulting forestry operations. The opinions and support of these public and private foresters will likely determine the future role of the program regardless of past success.

In 1987 an independent study was made by The University of Tennessee under contract with the ACF to evaluate the CFA program. Two mailed questionnaires were used to obtain opinions from both state "service" foresters and consulting foresters about the program. An attempt was made to obtain a balanced sample between ACF and non- ACF members for comparison purposes. The usable response rate of 72.4 percent was obtained from consulting foresters. All state foresters responded to a separate questionnaire.

Generally, state "service" foresters (appointed by each State Forester) were not in support of continuing the program, with the exceptions of the State of Tennessee and the State of Alabama. Minor differences were found between the opinions of ACF and non-ACF members, with over 48 percent of both groups not supporting continuation of the program. Most respondents offered their ideas for either changing the program or suggesting alternatives in lieu of continuing the program. The general level of program awareness was very low, including ACF members. Consultants with high levels of knowledge about the program were, in general, more supportive of the program. This finding suggests that there is a need for better public relations information about the program in order to obtain continued professional support by all cooperating agencies.