The United States has more than 700 million acres of forested land. More than 30 percent of these forests are federally managed. The remaining acreage is owned by private individuals, state and local governments, and the forest industry.

Powerful Partnership

You’d have to shout “Timber!” more than 50 times a second to account for all the trees being cut down around the world each day.

Logging trees isn’t inherently bad. We all depend on lumber and other forest products to meet many of our basic needs—from firewood to furniture to paper. The good news is that many forests are being sustainably managed to meet our growing needs for wood and other forest products. And at least one forest in North Carolina is proof that a variety of needs and interests can be balanced to help preserve native forests.

Recently, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) joined forces with a subsidiary of the Georgia-Pacific Corporation, the Timber Company, to help manage a large forest in North Carolina for both conservation and economic goals. The partnership includes a management team made up of representatives of the Timber Company, TNC, academic institutions, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and a variety of environmental groups. Each advisor has an interest in the area’s use and protection and uses his or her expertise to ensure that the partnership is profitable—for biodiversity and for people.