A Track Record of Success

By working to build regional identity and a shared vision for the Northern Forest since 1997, The Northern Forest Center has helped the region shift from rancorous debate to solution-oriented collaboration. The result is a strategy to support the Northern Forest’s economy, communities and environment shared by a wide array of organizations, agencies and civic leaders across northern Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York. Major accomplishments in the last 5 years include:

• Won the Champions in Action: ® Environmental Impact award from Citizens Bank and WMUR-TV.
• Secured Northern Forest Investment Zone designation and $2 million in investment in the region.
• Created a Regional Wood Products Consortium through Sustainable Forest Futures (SFF), The Center’s subsidiary, in conjunction with industry to boost competitiveness.
• Led the Sustainable Economy Initiative (SEI) to create the first economic strategy for the region, earning ­gubernatorial endorsement and congressional backing.
• Pioneered use of U.S. Dept. of Commerce New Markets Tax Credits through SFF to advance conservation, community, and economic goals on more than 450,000 acres of working forestland.
• Developed a nationally recognized model for Community Forest ownership as a member of the Community Forest Collaborative, which has helped create new Community Forests in New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine.
• Showcased the region’s history and culture in the traveling Ways of the Woods museum for 130,000 visitors.
• Invested more than $600,000 in Northern Forest Partnership Program grants to community-based conservation and economic development projects.
• Promoted the region’s traditional craft industries through publication of HandMade in the Northern Forest.