Community-Based Forestryin the
United States
a report from theU.S. Endowment for
Forestry & Communities
Community-Based Forestryin the
United States
Impacts of CBF
Keys to Success
Keys to Success
• Investment
• Local leadership• Mobilization of local
resources
• Assistance from intermediary organizations
• Supportive public policies & programs
Impacts:Diffusing Conflict
Diffusing Conflict
• Leveraging new resources for restoration
• Convening open, inclusive discussions
• Increasing voice of local communities
Diffusing Conflict
• Creating local business & job opportunities
• Providing effective treatment for “analysis paralysis”
Diffusing ConflictSustainable Northwest• Saw need for non-partisan
problem-solver• Early project: facilitating
community meetings in a town hit hard by declining timber harvests
• Interest in listening, in “going deep & staying long” turned conversation to sustainability and capacity building
Impacts:Restoration&Stewardship
Restoration & Stewardship
• Neglected public assets (e.g. trail systems)
Restoring ecosystems• Damaged (e.g. from
unsustainable harvesting )
Restoration & Stewardship
• Planting & restoration after fires
Creating a culture of long-term stewardship
• Management to reduce fire risk
• Habitat improvement • Models for good forest
stewardship for private landowners
Restoration & StewardshipThe Klamath Tribes
• Ecosystem improvement
• Community vitality
CBF initiative: restorationas a key to
• Preservation of cultural identity
• Economic self-sufficiency
Impacts:Public Policy
Public Policy
• Stewardship contracting requires demonstration of community benefits
• Shift in Forest Service performance measures: outputs to outcomes
• Farm Bill’s new “Community Forest & Open Space Program”
Public Policy
• State & county development commissions investing more in smaller-scale, community-owned ventures
• Community wildfire protection plans provide local voice in fire planning
Public PolicyRural Voices for Conservation Coalition • 60+ Western rural and local,
regional, and national organizations
• Common issues, shared voice & strength in numbers
• Goal: promote balanced, conservation-based approaches to ecological & economic problems
Impacts:Rebuilding Local Infrastructures
CBF Infrastructure Is…
• Investment
• Local leadership• Mobilization of local
resources
• Assistance from intermediary organizations
• Supportive public policies & programs
CBF Infrastructure Is…• Leadership- and
organizational development
• Capacity for facilitation & conflict resolution
• Project management capacity
• Capacity for facilitation & conflict resolution
• Project management capacity
• Capacity for facilitation & conflict resolution
Rebuilding Infrastructures
• Incubation of new products and businesses
• Community acquisition of forestland in the East
• Restored access to national forests and public lands
Rebuilding Infrastructures
• Groundwork for tapping new markets like carbon credits
• Diverse streams of financing
Impacts:Building Assets in Rural
Communities
Building Assets
• New value streams
• Expanded job training & job opportunities
• More access to &ownership of forestland
• Increased social capital
Building Assets
People are healthier, schools work better, kids learn faster, local government performs better, [there is less] crime, and…positive impacts on local business.”
– Lew Feldstein, co-chair, Saguaro Seminar
Social capital=
Building Assets Sustainable Woods• Links local landowners
with professional foresters & ecologically sensitive loggers
• Enhances forest health & provides good economic return.
Impacts:BuildingRural Capacity
Building Rural Capacity
• Promoting education & training
• Building new community institutions & leadership
• Collaboration & expanded participation
• Expanding access to financial & technical resources
Building Rural CapacityColorado Front Range Roundtable• 10-county multi-
stakeholder partnership focused on improving forest conditions & reducing wildfire risk
• Launched groundbreaking regional community capacity-building project last year