Building community resilience and restoration economies near eastern National Forests

This presentation explores how restoration activities in progress or being planned near three eastern National Forests are focusing on opportunities to build resilient communities along with resilient ecosystems, going beyond... [ view full abstract ]

This presentation explores how restoration activities in progress or being planned near three eastern National Forests are focusing on opportunities to build resilient communities along with resilient ecosystems, going beyond the boundaries of what forest managers have done in the past and representing a cultural shift toward shared stewardship of community and natural resources. Grounded in interview and secondary data, the ways in which National Forest managers, their organizational partners, private landowners, and members of nearby communities view opportunities to build regional economies centered on amenities and shared restoration activities across forested landscapes will be discussed. National Forests in the eastern United States, with their close proximity to urban centers and their comparatively (to western forests) small size, have been fertile grounds for conflicts over uses, in turn impacting economic benefits and forest composition. Because many eastern National Forests were pieced together from failed farms and other tax-delinquent lands, they are also often located in areas that have topographic and natural characteristics that aren’t conducive to productive agriculture or intensive development. Conversely, they are often within a few hours’ drive of large cities, serving – or potentially serving – as regional recreational resources. Three of these Forests – the Monongahela, the Shawnee, and the Wayne – will be discussed, and are located in regions comprised of rural communities that have suffered economically as a result of lost employment in extractive industries, loss of population, and changing markets for forest products.