Southern Forests for the Future

Southern Forests for the Future
www.SeeSouthernForests.org
March 3, 2010
Photo credit: Tesha Sampson, istockphoto.com
For journalists on the phone or watching the webcast, please send questions by email to:
pmackie@wri.org

Agenda
Welcome and overview Janet Ranganathan
Vice President for Science and Research
World Resources Institute
jranganathan@wri.org
SeeSouthernForests.org and major findings Craig Hanson
Director, People & Ecosystems Program
World Resources Institute
chanson@wri.org
Role of private landowners Todd Gartner
Manager of Conservation Incentives
American Forest Foundation
tgartner@forestfoundation.org
For journalists on the phone or watching the webcast, please send questions by email to:
pmackie@wri.org

Extent of southern U.S. forests

Chris Evans, River to River CWMA, Bugwood.org
Leo Hohmann, Flickr
Chris Evans, River to River CWMA, Bugwood.org

Southern forests are important for tackling climate change
Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 2009.

Southern forests are important for freshwater
Photo credit: Doug Bradley, Flickr

Southern forests are America’s “wood basket”

Southern forests face a number of challenges
Photo credit: Yanik Chauvin, istockphoto.com

Source: Greeley, 1925

Source: Foreman and Wolke, 1992

Extent of southern U.S. forests

Pre-European settlement era (pre-1630)

Agricultural expansion era (1630-1880)

Industrial logging era (1880-1920)

Semi-regeneration era (1920-1970)

Suburban encroachment era (1970-today)

Suburban expansion: Northeast Nashville, TN
1975

1990

2000

Suburban expansion: East Birmingham, AL
1990

Suburban expansion: East Birmingham, AL
2000

Suburban expansion: Northeast Atlanta, GA
1975

1990

2000

Urban and suburban area in South (1940)

Urban and suburban area in South (est. 2030)

Most southern forests are privately owned . . .

Most southern forests are privately owned . . .
100% = 214 million acres
Public
Individuals & families
Companies
Source: Smith, W. Brad, Patrick D. Miles, Charles H. Perry, and Scott A. Pugh. 2009. Forest Resources of the United States, 2007. Gen. Tech. Rep. WO-78. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service; Butler, Brett J. 2008. Family forest owners of the United States, 2006. Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-27. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station.

. . . and a generational shift is on the horizon
100% = 214 million acres
Public
< 55 years of age
24%
Individuals & families
Companies
55+ years of age
76%
Age of individual & family forest owners
Source: Smith, W. Brad, Patrick D. Miles, Charles H. Perry, and Scott A. Pugh. 2009. Forest Resources of the United States, 2007. Gen. Tech. Rep. WO-78. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service; Butler, Brett J. 2008. Family forest owners of the United States, 2006. Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-27. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station.

Future of southern forests rests in the hands of private landowners
Photo credit: Margaret Munford, American Forest Foundation

AFF Vision
AFF is committed to creating a future where North American forests are sustained by the public which understands and values the social, economic, and, environmental benefits they provide to our communities, our nation, and our world.

Keeping Private Forests as Forests
Current Situation
Slumping timber markets/ Mill closings
Increasing development
Tax pressures
Majority private ownership/many landowners - Opportunity
Inter-generational ownership changes
Decreasing resource agency budgets
Climate change

Who Owns the Forest?

Why Own Land?
Beauty and scenery
Family and heritage
Privacy
Nature protection
Connected to home or cabin
10. Timber production
National Woodland Owner Survey – US Forest Service

IntergenerationalTransfer

Legacy AgreementsKeeping the Forest in the Family

Remembering Aldo Leopold
“When a farmer owns a rarity he should feel some obligation as its custodian, and a community should feel some obligation to help him carry the economic costs.”
“Conservation will ultimately boil down to rewarding the private landowner who conserves the public interest.”

Ecosystem Services and Markets
“On private land, we must...protect our forest landscapes before they no longer can function to support watershed health, biodiversity, conservation, and viable wood markets.”
“Emerging markets….will provide landowners with expanded economic incentive to maintain and restore our forests”
Secretary of Agriculture Vilsack 10/1/09

Markets for Ecosystem Services…Arrangements for placing economic value on natural assets normally “outside the market”
Financial systems that enable people who produce products and services to be compensated by those who benefit

Recreation
Riparian planting
Carbon sequestration
Tradeoffs
Sustainable forestry
Wetland restoration
Species recovery
Imagine…
The portfolio approach to forest management – multiple incomestreams
Conservation easement
Source: Adapted from the Willamette Partnership

Sandhill Habitat Credit Trading
Conserve existing high quality habitat in GA and AL
Replicable habitat credit generating model
Proactive/ Precompliance/ Voluntary offsets
Broad partnership motivated to preclude listing
Additional income streams for landowners

Acknowledgments
Website Design
Website Support
Data providers

Questions? email pmackie@wri.org
For more, visit
Photo credit: cwwycoff1, Flickr

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Southern Forests for the Future

by World Resources Institute (WRI) on Mar 03, 2010

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Southern Forests for the Future — Presentation Transcript