Endowment Releases 2012 Annual Report

The U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities (the Endowment) today released its 2012 Annual Report.

Creating financial linkages between urban water consumers and the rural forest landowners who produce their water, as well as featuring the key role that working forests play in helping buffer Department of Defense installations from incompatible development that affects military readiness, are among highlights of the Endowment’s work in 2012.

“While we are proud of all of the gains made through the work of our funding partners and on-the-ground collaborators, perhaps the first-ever Canada/U.S. Forest Health Summit speaks best to the power of a small institution to help advance grand agendas,” said Endowment President Carlton Owen. In speaking about the importance and potential of the Endowment-convened event, USDA Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said, “The borders that separate the U.S. and Canada don’t segregate threats to our natural resources. It is critical that we continue to collaborate and address current and future land management challenges as partners.”

A key theme in the 2012 Annual Report is the Endowment’s role as a catalyst for systemic, transformative, and sustainable change for the North American forest industry. Each of the Endowment’s Initiatives illustrates how the Endowment works with partners to cast a vision for a better future, identifies and connects the people and organizations who can help make the change, and then primes the pump to leverage the financial resources to do the work.