New England Forestry Foundation, Inc.

CONTACT:

PO Box 1346, 32 Foster Street
Littleton, MA 01460
978-952-6856 x104
newenglandforestry.org

Lynn W. Lyford, Executive Director

DESCRIPTION:

Founded in 1944, to do what no organization had done before—to offer active, continuous, and complete forest management services to private landowners across the region. Next year NEFF will celebrate its 65th anniversary; are New England‘s Forests better off today than in the 1940’s? Yes, and no—it’s been uphill work for NEFF, with population growth, suburban sprawl, and soaring commercial land values working against them. Acquisition, sustainable management, and assisting landowners with conservation easement, are their tools; but the case for conservation has grown more urgent. Nonetheless, NEFF has conserved more than 1.1 million acres of forestland throughout New England. It owns and manages 130 forests, totaling more than 23,000 acres; of these, about one-third—46 forests, of 7,500 acres, are in Massachusetts, while 1.13 million acres are in 125 conservation easements which they hold and monitor. Their own properties are used for research and teaching, and they are increasingly effective as public educators for their cause. At a time when the norm is rapidly changing landscapes as the humans in and around them pursue short-term goals, NEFF provides a salutary context—reminding us of the values of the long-term, of natural evolution, of stability and of stewardship. You can add these dimensions to your life by supporting NEFF.

(2008: NATURE: Environment: Land)