Private Land Conservation
The Need for Funding
Less than twenty percent of eastern forests are currently conserved and protected from development. These lands are highly fragmented and threatened by rapidly encroaching development. It is imperative that we continue to make significant public and private investments in forest conservation to limit and offset impacts from new development on our most critical forested areas.
The U.S. Forest Service released its groundbreaking Forests on the Edge Report in 2005 to highlight unprecedented new threats to eastern forests from forest subdivision and development through 2030. The report locates the top fifteen watersheds in the nation for projected future development in the east and anticipates that 44 million acres of private forests nationwide will be lost to development through 2030.
Suburban sprawl presents a growing threat to open space and farmland in many areas of the Nation, with an estimated loss of 7,000 acres of farmland and open space every day. Financial resources and incentives are needed to promote the protection of open space, farmland, ranchland, and forests.What is SAFC Doing?
SAFC works with Eastern Forest Partnership (EFP a network of groups working on conservation funding issues) to build an effective movement advocating for greater acquisition funds and for support of eastern and Southern Appalachian projects. We leverage the power in the southeast (and east) to obtain Congressional support for increased levels of acquisition funding for key projects in the region.
At the local level, SAFC provides resources (GIS mapping, conservation analysis and prioritization, customized maps, outreach materials) to assist land trusts, conservation organizations, and individuals with the identification and protection of priority private lands.
SAFC also collaborates with key alliance partners in support of private lands programs in the region that contribute to returning the Great Forest.