Our Goal: Save America’s Working Forests. Our Newest Tool: The New Forest Fund

November 18, 2009

Contact:

Vanessa Vaughan, The Conservation Fund, (703) 908-5809; vvaughan@conservationfund.org

Arlington, VA — From giant redwoods along the west coast to bottomland hardwoods in the deep South, forests are part of our American character—and infrastructure. Our forests provide critical wildlife habitat, clean water, forest products and places to work and play. That’s why The Conservation Fund has helped to protect more than one million forest acres—and counting.

But even as these efforts continue, we confront an enormous challenge: Over half of America’s forestland is privately owned—and at growing risk of development or land conversion. By 2030, an estimated 26 million acres of forestland will be lost, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

To meet this challenge, we’re launching an important new tool: the New Forest Fund. With backing from foundations and private investors, the New Forest Fund is a dedicated source of conservation capital that will allow us to acquire and sustainably manage working forests with high conservation value, saving them from inappropriate development.

"The New Forest Fund represents the heart of our mission—to build conservation strategies that achieve both economic and environmental goals," said Evan Smith, vice president of forestland acquisition and finance for The Conservation Fund. "With this new effort, we’re building on 25 years of conservation experience to put dedicated dollars toward a precious resource: the working forests that mark our American horizon and make our quality of life possible."

The New Forest Fund recently received a generous inaugural gift—the purchase of 2,400 acres in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, made possible by the Richard King Mellon Foundation. In partnership with the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, we have protected this property, to be managed for recreation, wildlife habitat and sustainable forestry.

Growing the New Forest Fund, through private investments in the fund or donations of forestland, will be vital to our efforts to protect America’s forest landscape.

As an investment in conservation, the New Forest Fund deepens The Conservation Fund’s long commitment to America’s forests, which includes our: sustainable forest management of Garcia River Forest and Big River/Salmon Creek forests in Northern California; efforts to empower communities to own forests; restoration of forests in the southeast; and conservation real estate projects that enable our partners to acquire and protect forests across America.

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