In this issueA note from the Director
It is with great heaviness of heart that we have observed the recent tragedy in Arizona. Whether or not the gunman was motivated politically, it does call into question the nature of our political discussions. Currently there seems to be more hatred than understanding. Political rivals are viewed as the “enemy,” and the common work of governing the country for the benefit of all who live here is eclipsed by the drive to compete with the opposite party and score political “points.” Rhetoric has whipped many into a state of anger and hatred.
This scene is familiar to NNFP and many of our members. In the early 1990s, during the “Timber Wars,” rural communities were torn apart by hateful rhetoric and divided into “loggers” and “enviros.” Communities were torn apart, being forced to choose “jobs or environment.”
The NNFP arose out of this crucible, proclaiming that it cannot be “jobs” OR “environment” but it must be BOTH. Today the reality of this statement is clear. Climate change has been clearly established as scientific reality and we are beginning to realize and acknowledge the ways we need to live in harmony with the planet. We can only live within the bounds of what the earth can sustain.
As a leader in the community-based forestry movement in the US, NNFP is working to create jobs that maintain or enhance ecosystems. As we move toward the next “Farm Bill” there are many things we need to consider which will help us do "the greatest good for the greatest number over the long run.”
As you move through 2011, we invite you to stop and think about what you can do to reach out to others who you may disagree with, and find some common humanity and common interest. We all want the same things - safe healthy places to live and raise our children, clean water and air, healthy forests and wildlife, and a sense of security.
There will be some politically challenging times ahead, but if we focus on the fact that people have different ideas but ultimately want the same things, we may be able to overcome the political warring and focus on the common task of stewarding this great nation.
Please consider how you want to reach out for a better world and a more civil politics. January 17th commemorates the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., one of our nation’s greatest leaders, whose messages focused on our common humanity. While his work involved advocacy, and even civil disobedience, it was always that - CIVIL. He never wanted to hurt or kill. He just held up what was right, and refused to be swayed.
Let us each seek to carry that flame of truth forward.
Thank you for the work you do, and for helping us inch toward a better world.
Sincerely,
Colin
A look back at 2010
While 2010 was a difficult year for most, NNFP was able to survive the year and even thrive. The year saw us add new staff, John Fenderson, Debra McBride, and Pradeep Edussuriya, who will:
- Enable us to assist groups of limited resource landowners in the South to improve their forest management and generate additional income for their families,
- Increase member services in the form of additional webinars, newsletters, and direct consulting, and
- Help more people hear the inspiring stories of your work through our “digital storytelling” of People and the Land Media.
We also piloted the Center for Cooperative Forest Enterprises, which will house our cooperative development work, and the Sustainable Woods Network, which will serve as a place to showcase small sustainable forestry producers, allowing green consumers to find, and buy from, small building supply, furniture, and other wood producers.
The Creative Leadership program marked a second year of successfully cultivating inspired leaders who can help us move toward a more sustainable society.
The Web HELP program worked with dozens of small rural wood businesses to move into the world of the web, including working with one business on an e-commerce site to sell specialty wood directly to customers.
Finally, with the need to transition to more sustainable sources of energy becoming widely acknowledged, NNFP has begun to shine the light on how local communities might use sustainably harvested wood for clean heat which creates local rural jobs.
Overall, the year has had growing pains, but leaves NNFP in a stronger position to deliver benefits to our members, and help sustain rural lands and livelihoods.
Enterprise Support
2010 saw the continued expansion of NNFP’s enterprise support activities, much in the form of website development and improvements – all geared toward building the presence of small firms in the forest products marketplace. NNFP’s WebHELP Team completed a variety of different types of web services for clients, including new websites, website overhauls, and customized training so businesses can develop their own websites.
Web Services Director Nora McDougall-Collins also presented about Website Best Practices as part of Sustainable Forest Futures’ Regional Wood Products Consortium–Specialized Innovation Workshops in May.
Sustainable Woods Network
At www.sustainablewoods.com NNFP has piloted a “portal” for consumers interested in finding small sustainable wood producers. The site currently has 43 producers, and 191 sample products listed.
The site is being marketed through Search Engine Optimization, to increase the number of customers who find the site on Google and other searches. It also has been showcased at “green” building and consumer shows including Green Build in Chicago, DC Green Festival, and Chicago Green Festival. Hundreds of architects and interested consumers have signed up to receive the e-newsletter which will be launching in 2011.
For more information about membership, contact support@sustainablewoods.com.
Cooperative Connections
In April, we convened the second Forest Cooperative Leaders Summit at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum near the Twin Cities in Minnesota. That 2010 gathering built on the first Summit, held in May 2009 at the last conference-style NNFP Annual Meeting.
2010 saw some new participation, owing to the central location that enabled some attendees to drive rather than fly.
Participants included leaders from the following cooperatives:
Living Forest Cooperative
Blue Ridge Forest Cooperative
Oregon Woodland Cooperative
Northwoods Forestry Cooperative
Kickapoo Woods Cooperative
Cook County Sustainable Forestry Cooperative
Ohio Forestry Cooperative
Massachusetts Woodlands Cooperative
In addition to the networking which is always a favorite at these types of gatherings, we also had several invited guests: Eli Sagor of the University of Minnesota, Kevin Edberg and E.G. Nadeau of Cooperative Development Services, and Sarah Pike of the Common Enterprise Development Corporation.
Austrian Cooperatives and Wood-to-Energy Innovations
In June, NNFP’s Scott Bagley traveled to Europe to connect with cooperatives in Austria while in the area for a symposium on small-scale forestry. He was joined by Bob Parker, Extension Forester from Oregon State University.
Scott and Bob visited farm and forestry cooperatives and the rural development organizations that support them, bringing back new ideas based on innovations such as biomass logistics and trade centers and forest cooperatives that operate as energy service companies by selling heat rather, a new form of value-adding that has proven lucrative in comparison to the more typical approach of selling wood. A soundslide, report, and several articles provide an overview of what they learned about on the trip. Those can be accessed in the Resources section of the NNFP website.
Center for Cooperative Forest Enterprises
In recognition of the growing place of cooperative development in NNFP’s overall scope of work, in the summer of 2010 we established the Center for Cooperative Forest Enterprises (CCFE). We are now in the third year of support from USDA and one of its rural development programs enabled by the Farm Bill, the Rural Cooperative Development Grant (RCDG) Program.We have broadened beyond our original emphasis in Central Appalachia to support cooperatives nationwide. We are seeing new interest in forest cooperatives, from potential member-owners themselves, as well as rural development practitioners. Several projects in the coming year have come about due to our involvement with other networks such as Cooperation Works (an organization of cooperative developers), WoodWorks (a sub-group of centers within CW), and the Mid-America Cooperative Council.
Appalachian Forest Resource Center
While NNFP’s cooperative development work has broadened beyond Central Appalachia, we have increased our regional work in other ways. We were invited in as a partner with Rural Action, Appalachian Sustainable Development, and the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development (MACED), as part of a Ford Foundation-supported project to explore new strategies to create sustainable livelihoods and build wealth from sustainable forest businesses. Our role is to assist in understanding of forest value chains and interventions that can increase forest livelihoods and wealth creation. In addition to collecting and analyzing research with our partners we will offer a variety of direct support services to producers in the region, including branding and marketing workshops.
Complementing our work with the regional partners, we were also tapped to be a partner in a successful proposal to the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) on forest assessment. NNFP is an advisor to the project, which will help inform the ARC’s forest related projects, and will look at the various competing uses of the forest, and the market and non-market values.
Outreach for Sustainable Southern Forests
John Fenderson joined the NNFP team in the Fall to spearhead our efforts in the southern states, which focuses on outreach and engagement work geared towards increasing the participation of African American landowners in forestry and enhancing the economic benefits they receive through sustainable forestry. Hitting the ground running, John and partners organized two workshops in October and November, focusing on educating primarily limited resource and socially disadvantaged landowners on a variety of topics related to sustainable management and landloss prevention. Primary partners include James Ford of Square “O” Consulting, the former Georgia State Conservationist of USDA NRCS, as well as Rory Fraser of Alabama A&M University, Amadou Diop of the National Wildlife Federation, and Frank Taylor of the Winston County Self-Help Cooperative.
Building on these and other workshops, landowner leaders will be identified for participation in two “train the trainer” workshops in 2011, where they will develop their skills to serve as liaisons between County Extension Agents, USDA personnel, and other service providers and landowners who do not have a trust or comfort level with the programs, strategies, or opportunities that are available to them.
Out and About
While computers, phones, and the internet allow much to be accomplished without travelling, NNFP staff ventured out to several conferences and workshops throughout 2010, to make new connections, reacquaint with past partners, and share about some of our projects and the innovations of NNFP members.
We delivered presentations at several (click to link to pdfs), including the following:
Forest Cooperatives: Community-Based Partners for Increasing Participation in Forest Conservation, presented at conventions of the Society of American Foresters and the Soil and Water Conservation Society, and through a webinar as part of the US Forest Service’s Changing Roles Program in the south. Click to view
No Chain on the Bar: Websites that Don't Cut It!, presented at the SAF Convention in NM. Click to view
Sustainable Woods Network: Marketing Small Wood Businesses Across the US, a poster presented at the SAF Convention. Click to view
Chipping In: A report from Austria on their progress and innovations in wood-based biomass-to-energy, presented via webinar to the NRCS National Forestry Consortium and Training Meeting in NM. Click to view
Applications of Ecosystem Services Payments in Forest Conservation Outreach, presented at the Soil and Water Conservation Society in St. Louis. Click to view
Digital storytelling and targeted marketing to educate and engage absentee landowners in Swan Valley, Montana, presented at the NRCS Conservation Innovation Grants Showcase (at the SWCS conference), as well as the International Symposium on Society and Natural Resources (ISSRM) in Corpus Christi, TX. Click to view
The Sustainable Woods Network: a collaborative community supporting small scale forest operations by extending the reach of locally-owned enterprises into the marketplace, presented at a small-scale forestry symposium in Slovenia, "Small Scale Forestry in a Changing World: Opportunities and Challenges and the Role of Extension and Technology Transfer." Click to view
Branding: In Search of the Sizzle, presented at the Urban and Community Wood Marketing Collaborative in Lisle, IL. Click to view
Upcoming funding opportunities
Visit the "Funding Leads" page of the NNFP website for additional details about upcoming funding opportunities from a variety of federal programs and private foundations. A few examples of upcoming opportunities:
$10,000-$80,000 for projects that enhance opportunities for sustained forest products production for the forest sector of the eastern US. Requires 1:1 match. Due February 1.
Up to $400,000 per year for 3-year projects focusing on using outreach and technical assistance to connect socially disadvantaged farmers, ranchers and forest landowners to USDA programs. No match required. Due February 15.
Up to $250,000 for projects aimed at completing feasibility and design work for wood-to-energy projects that will use woody biomass material removed from forest restoration activities, such as wildfire hazardous fuel treatments, insect and disease mitigation, forest management due to catastrophic weather events, and/or thinning overstocked stands. 20% match required. Due March 1.
The funding leads page of the NNFP website will soon be members-only.
NNFP Membership Levels
Basic - $20
Individual - $35
Organization or Business with less than 5 employees - $60
Organization or Business with 5+ employees - $100
Institutional / Large Business - $500
Upcoming Events of InterestHighlighted Webinar:
The Oregon Woodland Co-operative:
Diversifying Income Opportunities with NTFPsJanuary 18, 2011 @ 1:30 pm Eastern
Sponsored by the Institute for Culture & Ecology
Register at: http://www.elearning.nnfp.org/
Check out additional Upcoming Events, including
webinars, workshops, and conferences:
