Thecurrent research is an applied research, which uses field data and descriptive-correlation and causal-correlation design to analyzing the relationships between variables. This study was an attempt to identify variables affecting rural participation in cooperatives forest by-products in Ilam. Population of this research is exploiters of forests in Ilam. The number of cooperatives and number of members were 38 and 1300 people. Based on Krejcie and Morgantables, 297 members were selected for this study through stratified random sampling. A questionnaire, which an expert panel guaranteed the validity of it, was data collection instrument. By using Cronbach alpha, the reliability of the questionnaire was measured. Cornbach alpha coefficient was 0.91. The results of Spearman's coefficient of correlation indicated that there is a significant correlation between age, work experience, level of education, ownership of agrarians, extension contacts, attitude to cooperative, trend to participation, distance to nearest agriculture services, social capital, legislation and support legal, cooperative management, level of income, capital, the use of resources of information, and social status with their participation. The results of step-wise multivariate regression showed that age and level of education, ownership of agrarians, extension contacts and social status totally indicate 51.2 % of changes in people's participation. Manuscript profile