Conserving & Restoring Our Appalachian Forests
Forests are vital. We focus on sustainable forestry practices and invasive species control.
Join us in stewarding our forests for future generations.
Our Vision
Appalachian forests are vibrant, healthy, and part of a diverse landscape that is ecologically stewarded to the benefit of current and future generations.
Our Mission
EcoForesters is a 501(c)3 non-profit forestry organization dedicated to conserving and restoring our Appalachian forests through education and stewardship.
Our History
Founded in 2015, EcoForesters is a new model for conservation: a nonprofit organization, built to implement positive impact forest stewardship, promote and partner for conservation, and educate students, professionals, and the general public. We are here to tell the untold story of the Appalachian forest and meet the needs of forest restoration at a large scale, for the long haul.
As professional foresters, we can read and tell the story of any particular piece of forestland in a way that most other conservation professionals are untrained to do. EcoForesters can implement active forest stewardship in a practical and comprehensive way, providing positive impact forestry services to landowners that achieves desirable on the ground results. No other conservation organization is designed for this purpose.
EcoForesters is also wholly different from private, for-profit consulting foresters. Our activities may appear similar, but commercial foresters generally make recommendations based on a course of action which yields the most profit for the landowner, while EcoForesters will present all reasonable options and then recommend a course of action which will most effectively conserve and restore the forest for current and future generations, while remaining economically viable and generating revenue to landowners.
Positive Impact Forestry
At EcoForesters, we believe that positive impact forest stewardship has the power to restore balance and diversity to our Appalachian forests.
Our forest stewardship approach utilizes techniques such as crown-thinning to enhance the health and growth of dominant, vigorous canopy trees by reducing competition from surrounding, undesirable trees. Patch harvesting mimics natural disturbance patterns and enhances structural diversity by naturally regenerating young trees amidst the older ones.
Other positive impact forestry actions typically include invasive species control, vine control, crop tree release, timber stand improvement, erosion control, tree planting, and timber harvests. These techniques provide forests with qualities more commonly found in “old growth” than even-aged forests, while also frequently enhancing aesthetics.
Our process typically involves 3 steps when working with landowners to apply positive stewardship actions on their properties:
Step 1
Assess the landowner’s forests to understand its history, current state, and likely future condition.
Step 2
Prescribe and implement actions that will meet the landowner’s long-term stewardship objectives and EcoForesters’ sustainability mission.
Step 3
Monitor the forests over time and adapt stewardship as necessary.
These methods ensure future forest productivity, and over time, restore healthy forest conditions.
Positive impact forestry can transform a forest’s unsustainable trajectory toward a more vigorous and vibrant forest to benefit current and future generations.
Our Values
Community
We recognize our forests are natural, renewable resources whose sound management benefits all in the community.
Service
Our team goes above and beyond to meet our clients’ and stakeholders’ needs and deliver high quality services and programs.
Integrity
Our staff is dedicated to being honest, sincere, impartial, and respectful in our actions.
Collaboration
We work with organizations and individuals to create new, shared opportunities that benefit our forests.
Professional Expertise
Our services and programs are based on the most current forest science and practices, utilizing efficient and innovative methods, and administered by well-trained, experienced and professional individuals.
What We Offer
Forestland owners and local communities benefit from EcoForesters’ ability to develop and implement forest management strategies that promote future forest sustainability and resiliency. Our methods emphasize sound ecological management over other profit and production driven forest management approaches. We are actively making positive impacts on the Appalachian landscape while still helping landowners achieve their individual management objectives.
Our Goals
Stewardship Planning
Improve Appalachian forests by increasing the number of landowners with ecologically sound forest stewardship plans and strategies.
Positive Impact Forestry
Conserve and restore Appalachian forests by implementing and demonstrating positive impact forestry through providing natural resource consulting for forest landowners at an
affordable rate.
Combat Non-Native Invasives
Deliver invasive species control services to forest landowners while also developing landscape scale strategic control of invasive species that threaten the ability of forests to sustain basic ecological function.
Advanced Mapping & Geospatial Services
Provide conservation organizations, natural resource professionals and landowners with professional and state of the art mapping and geospatial services that help them achieve their individual management objectives.
Cutting-Edge Forestry Practices & Technology
Utilize, develop and implement state of the art forestry practices and mapping technology to monitor, sustain, and promote the ecological health of Appalachian forests.
Collaborative Efforts
Collaborate with and provide services to conservation organizations, educational institutions, government agencies and natural resource professionals that share our mission and vision.
Educate Landowners & the Public
Educate the public and landowners on the degraded condition of forests, current and future forest threats, and the pervasiveness of unsustainable forest management practices,
while advocating for positive impact forestry
as a primary solution.
Natural Resources Student Education
Support students and young natural resource professionals by offering service-learning opportunities that will strengthen their understanding of positive forest stewardship and provide hands-on forest management experience.
Dissemination of Forest Stewardship Knowledge
Advance our understanding of sound resource management and share knowledge and experience with other natural resource professionals and organizations in order to progress the practice of positive impact forestry.