When you ask a landowner who they trust and go to to learn more about their woods, the frequent answer is their forester. 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. 

Unfortunately, landowners will often face barriers in meeting with foresters, whether it be cost or lack of forester capacity, which can result in it taking months or years to schedule a consultation. The Family Forest Carbon Program, developed by the American Forest Foundation and The Nature Conservancy to help family forest owners to improve forest health and address climate change, wanted to help landowners overcome this barrier to action. To do this, AFF has expanded our staff to include foresters who are dedicated to supporting landowners interested in enrolling in the program. 

Take a second to meet one of our staff foresters who you’ll often find walking the trails with family forest owners in Pennsylvania, Sarah Hall.

Having grown up with the Allegheny National Forest as her playground, Sarah was surrounded and shaped by the forest. She loved playing in the woods, but as she grew older she recalled seeing the major impacts that human development was having on the landscape, particularly forest fragmentation and its effects on the ecosystem.

Sarah now resides in northeastern Pennsylvania in the northern Poconos Mountains. Before joining as the Senior Forestry Manager at the American Forest Foundation, Sarah was the Program Manager of the Northern Tier Hardwood Association and Forest Specialist for the Wayne Conservation District. She has loved working to promote the sustainability of Pennsylvania’s woods for over a decade but felt that she was missing the day-to-day interaction with landowners and the opportunity to build those relationships. So when a position at AFF as a forester for the Family Forest Carbon Program opened up that would allow her to return to spending her days supporting landowners and exploring Penn’s Woods, she jumped at the chance.

During her first interview with AFF, Sarah recalled being excited by the fact that the virtual room was filled predominantly by women. Forestry has historically been a male-dominated field, and so Sarah was excited to have the opportunity to join an organization that values diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Now, serving as AFF's Senior Forestry Manager, Sarah is enjoying being outdoors with landowners and being a trusted resource for them throughout their journey. She’s excited to be working with AFF at the forefront of making a meaningful conservation impact with family forest owners through the Family Forest Carbon Program.