National Leadership Forum for Economic Development through Working Forests
Photo credit: Runaway Productions, LLC
Strengthening Markets, Forests, and Rural Economies through Collaborative Investment and strategic partnerships.
Our Story
On October 15, 2025, the Richard King Mellon Foundation and the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities convened more than 150 leaders from 22 states and over 80 organizations in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for a National Leadership Forum on Economic Development through Working Forests.
The Forum brought together leaders across forest products, philanthropy, conservation, architecture, research, and investment to identify opportunities for new partnerships and capital deployment to strengthen the nation’s working forests and the businesses that sustain them. A follow-up Investment Workshop examined how philanthropic, public, and private capital could align to modernize the sector and accelerate innovation.
The Roadmap
Building on insights from the Forum, the Foundation and the Endowment developed Activating Private-Sector Leadership for Economic Growth through Working Forests, a national Roadmap outlining a shared path forward for the U.S. forest products sector. The Roadmap defines three Priority Investment Areas:
- Sustainable Consumer Products for Health and Circularity — Replacing single-use plastics with molded fiber innovations from responsibly managed forests.
- Energy Security, Decarbonization, and Next-Generation Rural Jobs — Scaling biobased renewable energy innovations including biochar, liquid fuels, and gasification.
- A Forest-Connected Built Environment — Advancing mass timber and engineered wood products for scalable, low-carbon housing and infrastructure solutions.