Forester Spotlight: Nate Hartley
Whether they are experienced stewards of their forest or just trying to figure out where to even begin, landowners go to foresters with their goals for their land and trust their forester to guide them along the process. Meet Nate Hartley, one of AFF's staff foresters. He'll walk your forest's trails and works with landowners in Pennsylvania.
Nate Hartley
State: Pennsylvania
Educational Background: B.S. Botany (Millersville University); M.S. Ecology (Duke University) Nate is a Lancaster native who has since found a home in south-central PA's Ridge and Valley. With 10 years of experience coordinating botanical and forest inventories on private and public land, Nate is always eager to talk about plants, trees, pests and diseases. Before joining the American Forest Foundation he worked for the North Carolina Forest Service’s Forest Inventory and Analysis program and served as Stewardship Coordinator for the Central Pennsylvania Conservancy.
He believes that sustainable forest management by family forest owners is going to play a critical role in stemming the ongoing climate and biodiversity crises and he feels fortunate to get to meet with landowners, learn about their goals, and help them identify strategies that benefit them, their land, and the environment at-large. Working with AFF and the Family Forest Carbon Program affords him the opportunity to work with woodland stewards and to encourage their continued efforts to foster resilient and diverse forested ecosystems.
Related Articles

October 21, 2025
The Value of Your Fields & Forests Project
Curious what the Fields & Forests program really offers? Beyond the $30 per acre payment, there are added cost savings and income opportunities that make enrollment even more valuable. See how it all adds up!

September 16, 2025
Forester Spotlight: Keely Dunham
We’re excited to highlight Keely Dunham, a dedicated forester with the Family Forest Carbon Program who brings scientific expertise, on-the-ground experience, and a passion for helping landowners connect with and care for their forests.

September 5, 2025
What is the Permanence Trust? A Look at a New Solution for Nature
The American Forest Foundation has created an innovative new approach that aims to fill all the core functionalities necessary for permanence: The Permanence Trust. This approach frames non-permanence as a risk to be managed, strengthens market-wide definitions and risk management strategies, and provides a framework that allows NCS credits and other carbon credit types (like geologic storage) to be managed together, increasing overall market confidence and credibility.