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The Conservation Fund works at the interface of economic development and environmental protection. For more than 20 years, our approach has focused on collaboration, rather than confrontation, to develop solutions to the nation’s most complex environmental challenges, including major changes that have enveloped the forest products industry. With millions of acres of forestland trading hands in the last year and 20 million acres slated for sale by 2030, many of the nation’s resource-based communities are at a crossroads. Below is an excerpt from a recent conversation that COMMON GROUND’s editor, Mike McQueen, had with Larry Selzer, Art Harwood and Buddy Temple—three industry leaders pioneering market-based approaches to conservation that focus on land protection and job creation. Larry Selzer is president and CEO of The Conservation Fund, the nation’s top-rated environmental nonprofit. Art Harwood is CEO of Harwood Products, a family-owned lumber mill and the third-largest private employer in Mendocino County, Calif. Art serves as president of the Redwood Forest Foundation, which protects and restores forestland in the redwood region. Buddy Temple is the chairman of the board of trustees of the T.L.L. Temple Foundation, which is dedicated to supporting community development and the environment, primarily in east Texas.

“California is currently one of the nation’s top three states producing forest products. How are changes in the forest products industry nationwide affecting the state’s economy?”

Harwood: The forest industry has been undergoing an identity crisis in the past decade, and California is no exception. To give you some background: timber is California’s ninth most valuable crop. Every year, nearly 40% of the value of all timber harvested in California comes from privately owned forests in Humboldt and Mendocino counties. The forest products industry is vital to the economies of these two counties, generating about 13% of the personal income and 16% of the jobs. However, California’s forests are increasingly threatened by rural residential and agricultural development. If these threats are left unchecked, it will be to the detriment of local economies. It is imperative that we develop a strategic approach to these issues, and, with partners like The Conservation Fund, I believe we have a great head start in California.

Selzer: The Fund and its partners created a bold new model for working forest partnerships in the West with the purchase of the 24,000-acre Garcia River Forest in northern California. The forest is now a permanently protected landscape that will generate revenue from sustainable timber harvests to support restoration activities that will improve air and water quality and provide good jobs for local economies—three things we believe are absolutely essential for the future health of California.

“California’s success in resolving these emerging land-use challenges sets a good example for other states. Mr. Temple, do you see similar solutions being implemented in Texas?”

Temple: One of our most promising opportunities is emerging in east Texas. For more than a century, this region has drawn on its cultural heritage, historic places and natural resources—especially forests—as a stable source of good jobs. But in the past few years, timber companies have announced the sale of over 2.7 million acres of east Texas forestland, much of which has been identified as ecologically significant habitat. In a region where the forest sector annually produces $22.1 billion in industry outputs and pays $2.9 billion to 79,500 workers, a large-scale conversion of forestland to development would be particularly devastating. Local economies would lose some of the region’s prime recreation destinations.

Selzer: Preserving these resources for future generations will require an all-hands-on-deck approach—which is why we are working with leaders like Art Harwood and Buddy Temple to develop new models that balance economic development and environmental protection. In east Texas, we’re advancing land protection, sustainable forestry and ecotourism. In California, we’re demonstrating that sustainable forestry can be used as an effective tool to protect water, wildlife and jobs. By investing in the business of conservation, we can safeguard the nation’s exceptional ecological, cultural and commercial assets to achieve economic growth.

Harwood: Thirty years ago, it was rare that environmentalists and foresters were sitting down together to hammer out solutions, rather than lawsuits. In the future, I think this sort of collaboration will become the norm. My hope is that the successful completion of these projects in California and Texas will establish a model for innovative, cost-effective forest conservation and job creation in these regions and beyond, at a scale never before seen in the U.S.

The Conservation Fund has acquired a 16,000-acre working forest in northern California to run a sustainable forestry business. Its receipts will restore forests and waterways to protect northern spotted owl and coho salmon. The state Water Control Board set a national precedent by loaning the Fund $25 million to help finance the project, and the California Wildlife Conservation Board and the state Coastal Conservancy awarded $14.5 million in grants to help complete the $48.5 million purchase in Mendocino County on Nov. 1. The Hawthorne Timber Co. sold the land, which includes 11,600 acres in the Big River watershed and 4,345 acres in the Salmon Creek area.

A West Virginia business that provides advanced forest management technologies to promote sustainable forestry practices has received a $1 million venture capital investment from the Natural Capital Investment Fund (NCIF) and two partners. The Conservation Fund launched NCIF in 2000 as a public-private initiative to promote sustainable economic development practices in rural areas by provide financing to promising natural resource-based businesses. Its success to date has been made possible by the strong support of its private sector partners, including Arnett & Foster PLLC, BB&T, Chase Bank, Citizens National Bank, Huntington National Bank and Smith Cochran & Hicks PLLC. With additional support from West Virginia Jobs Investment Trust and PA Early Stage Partners, ImageTree will analyze tree species, animal habitats, the potential volume of timber and other forest attributes so that land owners and managers can improve decision-making.

The Greenseams program of the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District is expected to cross the 1,000-acre threshold by year’s end through the acquisition of land and easements for future flood management. The program, run jointly with The Conservation Fund, had protected 951 acres for $7.8 million as of early October. Such green infrastructure investments can provide significant savings compared with engineered, structural solutions to flooding. The protected open space, spread across four watersheds, also provides habitat for wildlife and hiking and bird-watching opportunities for local residents. Greenseams has attracted grants and in-kind services from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, its Coastal Management Program and the Fish and Wildlife Service.

Eastman Kodak Co. recently awarded seed grants to 44 nonprofit groups to benefit greenway, trail and open space projects in their communities. Kodak, along with The Conservation Fund, which administers the grant program, and the National Geographic Society also honored Sen. Paul Sarbanes (D-Md.), who is retiring, the Outside Las Vegas Foundation, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and Gerald McCarthy of the Virginia Environmental Endowment for their outstanding achievements in greenway protection. The greenway program, created in 1992, has awarded more than 600 grants of up to $2,500 for greenway projects. The National Geographic Society hosted the awards ceremony Oct. 3 in Washington, D.C.

At an unprecedented pace, Americans are investigating what may be the biggest environmental challenge of our time: global climate change. From the debut of Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth to the cover of Time, it is clear that leading corporations, individuals and our elected officials are taking notice of the trends associated with global warming and climate change.

The Conservation Fund has been at the forefront of this effort since 2000. Through its pioneering Climate Change Program, the Fund has worked with companies within the utility and energy industries, including American Electric Power, DTE Energy and many others to promote voluntary and market-based solutions to climate change that generate carbon credits using a technique known as carbon sequestration through reforestation. The Fund also launched its Go ZeroSM program, which allows individuals, companies or specific brands to zero out their carbon footprint by funding reforestation projects.

The following interview with John Rogers, the Fund’s climate change program manager, addresses some frequently asked questions about climate change and reforestation.

Gerry Anderson, president and chief operating officer of DTE Energy, explains how forest restoration is an important piece of the puzzle in his company's strategy for addressing climate change. "We believe that forest restoration provides the scale to be a significant contributor to addressing the issue.... Forest restoration could also reverse the impact of forest clearing over the past three centuries and, at the same time, expand wildlife habitat, provide recreational opportunities and lend much needed financial support to the agricultural sector."

Fermata, Inc., and The Conservation Fund recently met with state and local officials and residents in Nacogdoches, Texas, to launch a $35 million, 30,000-acre initiative to enhance nature-based tourism and land conservation in the Pineywoods area. “For more than a century, this region has drawn on its cultural heritage, historic places and natural resources—especially forests—as a stable source of good jobs,” said the Fund’s Andy Jones at the May 2 gathering. “Protecting these resources for future generations will require an all hands-on-deck approach that balances economic and environmental goals.” The Fund and Fermata, which focuses on nature-based tourism, plan to inventory and market the natural, cultural and historic resources in the Pineywoods region, known for its forests, rivers and azalea trails.

BP North America and Chase recently launched a new BP Visa card that offers rebates that users can donate to The Conservation Fund. The card (877/278-4729, bpchase.com) offers 5% rebates on all BP purchases, 2% rebates on most travel and dining and 1% on most other purchases. Rebate donations to the Fund will establish the BP Cardmember Land Legacy Fund, which will benefit the Revolving Fund, where the money is leveraged and reinvested in land protection efforts up to three times every five years.

As part of its climate change program, The Conservation Fund launched Go Zero in 2005, a program designed to engage people around the world—companies, communities and individuals—to combat global warming. Go Zero measures the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of virtually any slice of life—from a family’s home energy use or an office building’s energy output to individual travel or a concert performance. The program then offsets that impact by planting native trees, which absorb CO2 as they grow.

Featured this year on Good Morning America and profiled in Vanity Fair magazine and The New York Times, Go Zero is becoming popular among corporations and individuals. Groups ranging from The North Face and Disney to Yale University and Gaiam have incorporated Go Zero into their conservation and outreach strategies.