New Report Builds on W&W, Calls Forests Key to Sustainability

A new report by the New England Forestry Foundation, "New England Forests: the Path to Sustainability," builds on Harvard Forest's 2010 Wildlands and Woodlands report, to highlight 12 benefits forests provide to the region and 5 specific actions that will protect those benefits for the future.

Underpinning NEFF's summary report are 12 technical documents drafted by forestry professionals from around New England, on issues ranging from forest-based recreation and jobs to water quality and wildlife habitat. They analyze the potential of the region's forests to:

• Save $6 billion in water treatment costs
• Reduce the extent and impacts of heat waves, floods, and drought
• Contribute more than $5 billion to the recreation economy
• Provide critical habitat for 338 wildlife species
• Displace $1.85 billion of oil annually with wood heat

NEFF's report was released to the public in an event at the Boston Seaport World Trade Center on June 5 - World Environment Day - with a keynote address by Jeremy Grantham, co-founder of GMO, LLC, a Boston-based investment firm, and founder of the Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment. (Photo by Frank Lowenstein)

• Read the new report: New England Forests: The Path to Sustainability.
• Learn more about the Wildlands and Woodlands conservation vision.