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CONSERVATION
ISSUES
"Conservation
is a state of harmony between men
and land."
Aldo
Leopold
A Sand County Almanac, 1949 |
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The National Forest Foundation has identified
four key conservation areas affecting the health
and well-being of our 192-million acre National
Forest System and the outer-lying communities.
They are: community-based forestry, recreation,
watershed health and wildlife habitat. The U.S.
Forest Service relies upon the National Forest
Foundation (NFF) and our ability to seek creative
solutions and engage concerned citizens to address
those issues. We take seriously our commitment
to conserving the health and public enjoyment
of our National Forest lands and the issues most
affecting their health. |
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Community-based
Forestry - Many
of our forests are overgrown and unhealthy.
Under drought conditions, these forests
become susceptible to catastrophic fire.
The NFF is working with local communities
and community groups to restore resilient
ecosystems on lands at risk from fire, extraction
and development. |
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Recreation
- A growing
number of visitors to the National Forests
is having a severe impact on our natural
resources. We are working with our partners
to restore trails and develop collaborative
solutions to recreation management. |
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Watershed
Restoration - The
water flowing from our National Forests
is valued conservatively at $3.7 billion
per year and supplies 3,400 public water
systems, providing fresh water to 60 million
Americans. We are working to improve aquatic
species habitat as well as the delivery
of clean water. |
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Wildlife
Habitat - Fragmented
areas may become too small and too degraded
to support populations of certain species.
We are working with communities and landowners
to restore National Forest and adjacent
lands, and to protect inholdings and other
critical habitat. |
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| The NFF supports work on
these issues through our Matching
Awards Program and our Community
Assistance Program. We provide financial support
to our more than 100 partner organizations, helping
them raise funds to work on numerous local conservation
initiatives and involving a variety of stakeholders
in forest stewardship. |
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