• Marciano, James A.
  School of Forest Resources, University of Maine
  
• Lilieholm, Robert J.
  School of Forest Resources, University of Maine
  
• Leahy, Jessica E.
  School of Forest Resources, University of Maine
  
• Porter, Terry L.
  School of Business, University of Maine
  

The Maine Forest and Forest Products Survey was developed as part of the University of Maine’s Forest Bioproducts Research Initiative (FBRI) to identify Maine residents’ views towards forests, forest practices, and emerging technologies in forest-based biorefining. The mail survey, conducted in early 2009, was mailed to 3,000 Maine households and included two samples – a 1,750-household “State-wide” sample, and a 1,250-household “Mill Town” sample. The response rates were 42% and 41%, respectively.

The survey was divided into five sections that asked respondents about their: (1) perceptions of Maine’s forests and the forest products industry; (2) views on forest-based biorefineries; (3) general perceptions of the natural environment; (4) perceptions about their household’s economic well-being; and (5) sociodemographic information. Respondents in both samples displayed strong support for the development of forest-based biorefinery projects in Maine, with both samples rating job creation as the primary benefit. As a potential biorefinery project’s location became more localized, moderate levels of resistance emerged, although to a lesser extent in the Mill Town sample. In both samples, preferred locations for forest-based biorefineries were alongside closed or existing pulp and paper mills rather than as separate stand-alone facilities.