American Forest Foundation Blog
Family Ground and Pickled Forests
What has always excited me about my work here at the American Forest Foundation is the privilege of meeting woodland owners and hearing stories of their family ground. That legacy – so often carried from generation to generation – is what inspires all of us here at AFF to work on behalf of those who are the caretakers of America’s private forests.
Read More >Categories: News Opinion
O Christmas Tree!
How perfect to read about Bonnie MacKay’s Christmas tree last night when I was finally able to dive into the boxes of ornaments and start decorating my own Christmas tree, a beautiful one from a family forest owner in Garrett County, Maryland.
Read More >Categories: OpinionTo Reduce Risk of Wildfire, Family Forest Owners Need More Resources
The 2012 wildfire season could soon be one of the worst on record. Family forest owners need all the conservation tools they can get, and yet resources for private forest owners have diminished steadily over the last decade. That's one reason why AFF launched MyLandPlan.org.
Read More >Categories: News News for Forest Landowners Opinion Policy Resources for Forest Landowners
Jobs Picture in America’s Woodlands: Serious Implications for Forest Health
What does the closing of 1,009 sawmills and the loss of 294,000 full-time jobs mean for the future of the forest products industry? the decline of the forest sector has serious implications for forest health and the future of America’s forests.
Read More >Categories: News Opinion PolicyCongress Wants to Get Rid of Smokey Bear
Congress wants to eliminate funding for the U.S. Forest Service’s conservation education program, which could mean we say farewell to Smokey Bear.
Read More >Categories: Environmental Education News for Forest Landowners Opinion PolicyGuest Post: Conservation Easements a Good Investment for the South
With forests being converted at a rapid pace in the South, conservation easements are one of the most promising approaches to conserve and sustainably manage them. A new American Forest Foundation and World Resources Institute aims to increase the use of conservation easements in the South by helping landowners, conservation professionals, and conservation funders understand the unique benefits that conservation easements provide, key barriers to their implementation, and how to best address those barriers.
Read More >Categories: Opinion Resources for Forest LandownersEcosystem Markets and Aldo Leopold's Land Ethic
For conservationists, the concept of doing right by the land is supposed to be engrained in our every action, but is it so? Can we honestly say, without a doubt, that we are doing what’s best for our natural world?
Read More >Categories: News OpinionTree Farmer Mathematician: Farm Bill Benefits Really Add Up
Walt and Donna Lange own a 32 acre Tree Farm in Swanton, Ohio. Farm Bill programs have enabled the Lnages to protect their soil, enhance wildlife habitat and provide recreational opportunities for their community. With Congress beginning work on the 2012 Farm Bill, we're looking to hear your Farm Bill stories.
Read More >Categories: News for Forest Landowners Opinion Resources for Forest LandownersTo Help Protect Forests, Take Action With Your Local Tree Farmer
Colorado has experienced multiple severe threats to the health of its forests over the past decade. Years of extreme drought resulted in some of the most damaging wildfires on record. At the same time, some four million acres of Lodgepole Pine were being devastated by the mountain pine beetle and our Ponderosa pine forests are now under attack.
Read More >Categories: News OpinionAmerica’s Great Outdoors: Our Nation’s Laboratory
When President Theodore Roosevelt and John Muir stood atop the mountains of Yosemite and argued the merits of conservation and/or preservation, neither would have guessed that the greatest threat to the country’s natural resources would not come from external pressures but rather the internal disconnect that would occur between land and people.
Read More >Categories: Environmental Education OpinionPermanent Estate Tax Reform Proposed
Earlier this week, I introduced a proposal along with my friend Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona to reform the federal estate tax. The proposal would permanently set the estate tax rate at 35 percent, with a $5 million exemption amount phased in over 10 years and indexed for inflation. It would also provide a “stepped up basis” for inherited assets. The proposal would be included in a package of other measures intended to provide economic relief for our small businesses.
Read More >Categories: News for Forest Landowners Opinion PolicyKeeping Forests, Forests: Insights from Missouri
Getting out of Washington, D.C. to hear first-hand about the challenges and opportunities facing America’s private forest landowners is one of the best parts of my job.
Read More >Categories: News News for Forest Landowners Opinion
Protecting Land for the Next Generation
At the White House Outdoors Conference, Bill Cronon, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison spoke eloquently about the “core American thread” -- sustaining our private and public lands to pass on to future generations.
Read More >Categories: News OpinionClimate bill needs incentives for small forest owners like me
Lost in the growing climate change debate is an understanding about what the policy options will mean for the 504,000 people like me who manage forest land in the state of Georgia.
Read More >Categories: News for Forest Landowners Opinion PolicyChuck Leavell Knows a Thing or Two About Carbon
“Laws must incentivize carbon-cutting forest management practices,” says Chuck Leavell, Rolling Stones keyboard player, Georgia Tree Farmer, and AFF board member in a CNN.com opinion editorial.
Read More >Categories: News OpinionHaving our wood count toward renewable fuels
Last month, one of our family forest landowners from Virginia, Anitra Webster, testified on Capitol Hill about the Renewable Fuel Standard and how it could impact family forest owners across the country.
Read More >Categories: News for Forest Landowners OpinionThe Carbon Scene
Carbon is the hot topic and it appears to be on the lips of every forest professional you talk with these days.
Read More >Categories: OpinionWood belongs in the green building code
Wow, what a wonderful sight it would be to drive down a country road lined by exotic bamboo shoots instead of those mundane old pine trees!
Read More >Categories: OpinionAn Open-Door Policy for Green Building
The state of Maryland has an opportunity to rectify a legislative anomaly that was supposed to tighten environmental standards for green building, but has had the practical effect of excluding all but a handful of the 130,000 family and individual forest owners in the state.
Read More >Categories: Opinion