Managed Timberland Tax Incentive Program (Managed Timberland), the program which authorizes preferential property taxation of forest land in West Virginia, was created in anticipation of expected drastic changes in property assessment values when the state ordered a reassessment to correct a long-standing underassessment problem. Since the enactment of Managed Timberland no detailed research has been conducted to determine the benefits of the policy to the state or to private forest landowners. Managed Timberland has low enrollment rates and may be an unfair shift of the tax burden to non-forest owners. A detailed study of Managed Timberland was conducted to determine the effectiveness of the policy. This study employs a historical review to examine the implication of past tax policies and provide a context and direction for future research and policy recommendations. The historical review reveals that in West Virginia, a preferential tax program for forests is desirable, but requires changes due to a history of inefficient and unfairly distributed property taxes and inadequate benefits from Managed Timberland to forest landowners. Simplification of forest tax policies would make these policies more transparent and understandable to landowners and easier for local tax authorities to administer. In addition, landowners may be more inclined to participate in preferential forest tax programs if program outreach and reward systems were more in keeping with known landowner values and beliefs.