With many new legislators and staffers coming to Washington, D.C. in 2017, the American Forest Foundation (AFF) launched a campaign to increase awareness and help inform policymakers of the importance of family woodland owners. In addition, the communications campaign is pushing for policies and programs, particularly in regards to tax and the Farm Bill that can help family forest owners sustainably manage their land and help them provide clean water, wildlife habitat and sustainable wood supplies.

Deemed the ‘Rural Voices’ campaign, the campaign is creating awareness by bringing to life the authentic voices of family woodland owners from across the U.S, and showcasing their impact on rural communities and our environment. Mainly through social media and public relations, AFF is sharing woodland owner stories, eye-catching statistics, motion graphics, and opinion editorial pieces, targeting key policymakers with high volume and frequency.

A few of the top posts from Facebook and LinkedIn that generated the most interest:

Already these stories and graphics have captured the attention of Capitol Hill and started to help build a stronger connection with policymakers and their woodland owner constituents. In just 4 short months, we have:

• Delivered 228,000 impressions to targeted Congressional staff, federal agencies and relevant think tanks, with the average staffer seeing this content 12 times.

• Increased web traffic to Forestfoundation.org from Congressional IP addresses threefold, with these individuals spending almost double the amount of time on our site than other visitors.

• Generated more than 19,600 engagements from likes to views to shares of this content.

AFF plans to continue this campaign through 2018, working to bring important information, new stories and policy recommendations to legislators to create an environment that supports sustainable forest management by the rural families and individual forest owners across the U.S.

Visit the American Forest Foundation Facebook and LinkedIn pages to view the actual posts and share them with your members or constituents.