Abstract: Enhancing the risk resilience of forest-rich regions is a critical pathway to advancing the reform of the collective forest tenure system and boosting rural revitalization. This study empirically selects 412 major forestry counties in southern collective forest areas and classifies them into three development types using the K-means clustering method. A county-level development resilience evaluation index system for forest regions is constructed, encompassing three dimensions: economic resilience, social resilience, and resource resilience. The entropy method is employed to measure county-level development resilience levels over the period 2005–2021, with an analysis of type-specific differences and influencing factors across the three categories of major forestry counties.The results indicate that: ①Overall, county-level development resilience exhibits an upward trend, yet significant type-based differentiation is observed. The ecological dividend type (Type III) achieves the highest resilience index, the traditional industry type (Type II) shows insufficient growth momentum, and the ecological-industry synergy type (Type I) ranks in the middle.②Marked disparities in forest region county-level development resilience are primarily driven by inter-type differences, presenting a hierarchical pattern of “Type III > Type I > Type II,” with particularly prominent gaps between Type III and the other two types. ③Regional brand building, industrial structure optimization, and the application of digital financial tools contribute to enhancing forest region development resilience. Based on these findings, the study proposes differentiated development strategies, providing theoretical support and practical guidance for deepening the reform of the collective forest tenure system and promoting rural revitalization.