New Era, New Opportunity

Since it was founded, The Center has rallied people around a vision for the region’s future that is built on three essential ingredients: thriving communities, healthy forests and innovative and resilient local economies that can support both.

The Center plays a unique role as the only organization coordinating regional strategy across multiple interest areas—conservation, economic development and community development—in the four-state region. This enables The Center to amplify the work and voice of our partners, adding value to their work and advancing our shared goals.

The Center’s work, grounded in a set of core beliefs, helps people better understand and capitalize on the interconnected nature of the region’s economy, culture, communities and forested landscape. The Center’s programs are focused on:

• achieving goals in specific natural resource areas
• building capacity across the region
• demonstrating success through integrated, community-based pilot projects

The Northern Forest of northern Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York is home to more than 2 million people who live in communities that have experienced immense economic change since the 1980s. The region’s 30 million acres of woodlands, lakes, rivers, farms, rolling hills and mountains are the source of the region's culture, quality of life, and economic opportunity. The Northern Forest—the largest, intact forest in the eastern United States—is an important national resource for alternative energy, timber products, recreation and tourism, and ecological diversity.