Northern Forest Futures Project

The Northern Forest Futures Project (NFFP) is a window on tomorrow’s forests, revealing how today’s trends and choices can change the future landscape of the Northeast and Midwest. This effort

• starts with existing assessments and inventories and a scoping of trends and public issues,
• builds alternative futures based on those trends and the latest ecological and social science,
• analyzes what those futures mean for people and forests, and
• delivers an educational outreach that allows individuals, organizations, and resource managers to directly assess what difference possible lifestyle, policy and management choices make to the well-being of their communities and forests.

Ultimately, the NFFP informs decision making regarding the protection and sustainable management of public and private forests in the northern United States.

Why a Northern Forest Futures Project?

Forests and forest ecosystems provide a critical array of public benefits from clean air and water to commercial products to open space.  The forests and their ability to provide benefits are continually changing and will continue to change as they respond to natural forces and human decisions.  The complexity and rate of change in the region demands a rigorous evaluation of existing and emerging natural forces and the impacts of those forces and our response to them on future forest sustainability.

Who is Involved?

The Northern Forest Futures Project is a cooperative effort of the US Forest Service, the Northeastern Area Association of State Foresters, and the academic community. This broad array of partners strengthens the prospects for success of this ambitious project.

What’s Happening Now?

Project Status Reports

• November 2011
• June 2011
• March 2011
• January 2011
• June 2010
• March 2010
• October 2009
• September 2009
• June 2009
• April 2009
• February 2009

 

Project status reports are in pdf format and require specialized software to view or print them. You may download free Adobe Reader software from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html.