PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 10, 2023
New England forests, a key part of one of the most intact temperate forests on Earth, are mostly privately owned and form a backdrop to the region’s identity and way of life. There is huge potential for these forests to help us avoid the worst of climate change and support rich biodiversity. Combined, the wildlands and managed-woodlands approaches maximize the amount of atmospheric carbon forests can store while providing the best path forward to protect the habitat wildlife requires, the places people love to recreate and the renewable products New Englanders need. New England Forestry Foundation has been awarded $30 million to pilot climate-smart forestry. Northeast Wilderness Trust, too, recently leapt toward such a future with the establishment of the $20 million Sweet Water Fund, which will support the creation of large wildlands. ~ Robert Perschel, NEFF; and Jon Leibowitz, NWT