OUR NAVIGATIONAL CHART FOR THE NEXT THREE YEARS

The plan that follows lays out five targets for the coming years and the pathways we will follow to achieve them. Click here to read a note by our Board Chair and Executive Director about the formation of the plan.

View a PDF of the entire Strategic Plan here, or browse the targets below for an abridged version.

STRATEGIES

1. Improve and innovate NNRG’s application of ecological forestry.

We’ll build on our experience to further refine our practices of logging, forest restoration, and forest planning.

2. Research and document the economics, application, and co-benefits of ecological forestry.

We’ll create and publish resources such as videos, pamphlets, and guidebooks to help forest stewards understand the benefits of thinning, extended rotations, and other ecological forestry practices.

3. Partner with loggers and foresters to implement ecological forestry, and work to develop their capacity.

We’ll bring into our network other service providers with a track record of high-quality, light-touch forest management and seek ways to bolster the viability of their operations.

4. Lead the way in climate adaptation for Northwest forestry.

We’ll create and publish resources such as videos and guidebooks to help forest stewards adapt their practices to be more resilient in the face of climate change.

5. Develop educational resources and outreach for demonstration forests managed to FSC standards within a 2-hour drive of Seattle or Portland.

We’ll use interpretive materials and tours to educate landowners, policy makers, and partners about the economic and ecological outcomes that this approach to forestry can accomplish. We’ll also collect and analyze data about harvests and forest growth.

STRATEGIES

1. Co-author a peer-reviewed paper on the financial results of ecological forest management.

Many landowners believe that ecological forestry would require them to forgo a disproportionate share of their potential returns. We will publish the research we have conducted, which dispelled that assumption by compiling data from dozens of harvests that meet FSC standards.

2. Publicize the locations and sizes of FSC-certified forests in the Pacific Northwest.

Increasing transparency by mapping FSC-certified forests will highlight sources of supply and help the public to understand the distribution and scale of FSC-certified forests.

3. Increase FSC market opportunities for members of NNRG’s group certificate.

We will work to expand existing relationships with FSC log and pulp buyers and identify potential partners who are purchasing FSC wood products in the Pacific Northwest.

4. Explore opportunities for collaboration with other sustainability designations.

NNRG’s management practices may align well with Local, Fair Trade, Salmon Safe, Carbon Neutral, Climate-Smart, and other designations. These designations have the potential to increase the market value of their timber.

STRATEGIES

1. Produce a trade paperback book on ecological forestry.

We’ll author a book on ecological forest management in the Pacific Northwest that serves as a how-to guide for forest owners and managers and also orients the general public to ecological forestry.

2. Make the case to wood buyers for sourcing materials from well-managed forests.

We’ll develop and disseminate materials—in print, online, and at point of sale—that tell the story of ecological forestry and explain why wood from responsibly-managed sources is superior.

3. Increase the number of people who have heard about ecological forestry, understand what it entails, and prefer it to conventional forestry practices.

By tracking the viewing and downloading of digital materials, we have ascertained a growth of 30 percent in our online engagement with web, newsletter, and social media contacts over the next three years.

4. Showcase ecological forestry as a climate solution.

We will evaluate and explain the role ecological forestry can play in increasing carbon sequestration and reducing the embodied carbon of new construction. We’ll also highlight the value of ecological forestry techniques in promoting climate adaptation and resiliency.

5. Partner with educators to bring ecological forestry education to K-12 and postsecondary students.

We’ll cultivate relationships with educators at all levels, and showcase the benefits of ecological forestry to the next generation of foresters and forest stewards.

STRATEGIES

1. Create more connections among ecological forestry practitioners.

We will draw on our staff and membership to provide best-in-class guidance and resources, host in-person events to foster community, recognize leaders in the field, and provide digital forums to connect practitioners with one another.

2. Encourage watershed-level thinking among forest owners.

We’ll connect landowners in the same landscape by providing geographically specific forums to encourage passive
landowners to become more active.

3. Work directly with landowners to shift their management toward ecological forestry.

Some forest owners will be moved to action by the availability of trusted professionals to create new management plans and oversee forest stewardship actions. We will work with landowners to help them realize their ecological forestry intentions, specializing in family forests, land trusts, youth camps, and tribal and municipal forests.

4. Establish ecological forestry as a key method in regional forest restoration.

We’ll increase the recognition among forestry professionals in western Washington that ecological forest practices are a way to restore forests that had been subject to industrial management.

5. Amplify our outreach to professionals in forestry-adjacent fields.

While forests are top of mind for us, they are just a small though salient part of the work done by people in related fields, such as architecture, geology, hydrology, and reserve management. We will create professional development opportunities that bring the insights of ecological forestry to practitioners in those specialties.

STRATEGIES

1. Enroll new landowner clients with large holdings.

Larger forests (several hundred acres or more) tend to bring with them a year-in, year-out need for forestry services, which will contribute to NNRG’s stable baseline income.

2. Expand NNRG’s estate planning and working forest endowment program.

Some forestland owners cannot rely upon family heirs to continue their stewardship legacy. We will expand our work in this area through outreach to estate attorneys and estate planners, and by helping establish other ways for forest owners to dedicate their land to charitable causes beyond NNRG.

3. Develop a business sponsorship program tailored to firms that are in the forestry field or are forestry-adjacent.

These firms can benefit from association with NNRG’s brand and exposure to our network; NNRG can benefit from a new model for financial support.

4. Use the book as appropriate for fundraising, both before and after it is published.

Through dedicated solicitations, we have raised enough money to pay for the cost of research and writing even before completing the manuscript.

Note from NNRG’s Board Chair and Executive Director

When we began creating the plan that will guide NNRG from 2022 to 2024, Covid-19 vaccination had just opened to the general public, and we glowed with the anticipation that in-person gatherings would soon become routine. Instead, in light of the Delta variant, we re-adjusted to work together by phone and video chat. Now, as we publish this framework in early 2022, we are preparing for our first in-person board-staff meeting in 27 months.

The last two pandemic years have called upon wellsprings of adaptability that will soon be needed for Northwest forests as well. As the climate shifts toward warmer, drier summers and less mid-elevation snow, forest stewards will need to be alert to predicted and unforeseen changes alike, and be nimble on our feet to respond. This plan reflects those ideas, with climate adaptation a consideration in two of our main targets. 

In other ways, too, we have built adaptively on our 2018-2021 plan, to amplify what is working and test new strategies that round out our toolkit. The plan that follows lays out five targets for the coming years and the pathways we will follow to achieve them. The NNRG board and staff invite you to join us on this journey to benefit Northwest forests and communities, for generations to come.