Issues We Care About: Forests

Forestland in the eastern United States provides essential ecosystem services, including biodiversity, carbon sequestration, drinking water, clean air and diverse recreation opportunities, and thousands of jobs.

These diverse woodlands include the northern hardwood and spruce/fir forests of New England, the Adirondacks, Southern Quebec and the Maritime Provinces, the mid-Atlantic Forest that ranges from the Pennsylvania Highlands to where the Southern Appalachians begin, running down the spine to Georgia. Coastal plain forests hug the coast from to Florida and west to Texas, serving as a critical wood basket, providing 10% of wood products globally and reducing harvesting pressure on more sensitive ecosystems. These forests face  significant threats, including inappropriate development, conversion of native forests to monocultures,  mining, and climate change.

OSI supports communities in taking charge of their forests though several grant and loan fund opportunities. Through our research program, OSI spreads the word about the importance of these forests and how to best address the challenges they face.

Community Forest Fund

OSI's Community Forest Fund supports the growing interest in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont for conserving and capturing the economic, recreational, social and ecological benefits of forest ownership.

 

Southeastern Forests

The forests of the coastal plain, the Piedmont and the Southern Appalachians contain some of the nation’s most significant ecosystem services, including biodiversity, carbon sequestration, clean water and recreation. 

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