Northern Forest Center

Developing vibrant rural communities: the Center strengthens the vitality of rural communities and their ability to attract new residents and entrepreneurs seeking quality of life, community, and connection to the natural world. Highlights of FY2024 include: Serving 176 communities through programs, investment, fundraising assistance, and project implementation; Continuing property redevelopment (through our subsidiary Sustainable Forest Futures) and complementary programming in Bethel, Greenville, and Millinocket, ME; Tupper Lake, Chester and Elizabethtown, NY; and Newport and St. Johnsbury, VT, including securing nearly $1 million for Greenville, ME and assisting Elizabethtown, NY, to apply for millions of dollars to fund new waste water systems that will make housing expansion possible in both communities.Managed Maine West, a collaborative of diverse non-profits in Bethel, Rumford, South Paris, and Norway, ME, to implement projects to secure economic, education, health and conservation benefits, including securing a $1.1 million Department of Labor grant for workforce development; implemented the third year of the Attracting New Residents Strategy in the Adirondacks by engaging citizens on downtown revitalization, community-based recreation, community marketing, and middle-market housing in Tupper Lake and Elizabethtown, NY; invested more than $500,000 across Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, and the Adirondacks in trail and recreation improvements focused on serving community-oriented projects, reducing barriers to youth participation in outdoor recreation, and improving trail sustainability; and facilitated the Borderlands collaborative to create quality mountain biking experiences for residents and visitors in Gorham, Franconia, and Littleton, NH; Bethel and Carrabassett Valley, ME; East Burke and Craftsbury, VT; and East Hereford, Quebec, while stewarding the natural landscape and securing economic benefits for North Country communities.Details are available at www.northernforest.org.

Providing Dynamic Regional Leadership: The Center provides regional leadership, advocates for, and supports thriving communities and healthy forests by increasing federal investment in the region, and developing funding opportunities that meet emerging needs.-Community Investment: Raised $5.6 million to create new housing priced attainably for middle-income residents in focal communities.-Regional Collaboration and Capacity Building: Raised $3.4 million for partners to support broadband expansion, workforce training, community infrastructure, trail building and outdoor recreation projects.-Advocacy: Represented Northern Forest issues on regional and national advisory groups to elevate awareness of opportunities and challenges; engaged federal agencies to deliver innovative programs and enhance delivery of funding to rural communities.-Knowledge Sharing: To increase connectivity, knowledge, and collaboration among communities, the Center engaged more than 2,000 viewers and participants in 10 webinars and compiled the bi-monthly Northern Forest News Digest for 4,200 subscribers.Details are available at www.northernforest.org.

Catalyzing innovation in the forest economy: The Center helps create and improve jobs and build local wealth through opportunities that advance a regional land ethic and sustainable use of the forest. The Center's program work focuses in the following three areas:-Wood Heat: The Feel Good Heat marketing and consumer education campaign served 26 million targeted videos and ads to consumers, driving 223,000 website clicks to Feelgoodheat.org. Since inception, Feel Good Heat has reduced greenhouse gas impact by 12,224 tons by substituting wood pellets for more than 2 million gallons of fossil fuels, generating $11.8 million in positive economic impact for the region.-Wood Products Business Assistance: The Center supported 800 jobs by providing custom business and marketing assistance to 53 wood products businesses; providing 7 wood products CEOs from ME and VT with business coaching throughout the year through the Northern Forest Board Forum; and coaching 10 wood product businesses to incorporate their wood-origin stories into their business philosophy and marketing through "Telling Your Forest Story," an online workshop series. Additionally, we engaged more than 400 participants in educational webinars on key forest topics.-Forest Stewardship: In FY24, the Center advocated for a holistic approach to forest management that includes the forest, the economy, societal benefits, and the communities that rely on the forest. We completed 13-months of technical assistance to help establish the 446-acre Community Forest in Rumford, ME; launched a learning network of 8 Community Forests in the Androscoggin Valley to strengthen climate resilience; and engaged more than 400 people through webinars on forest stewardship to broaden understanding of the roles and benefits of forests.-Outdoor Recreation Development: The Center assisted communities in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, Coos County, NH, and Oxford County, ME to manage for sustainable tourism and quality of life for residents through initiatives spawned by the Rural Tourism Academy, including continued development of a new wayfinding system for Newport, VT.Details are available at www.northernforest.org.

Fees paid for board meetings