Thinking Boldly and Forging Ahead
Keeping Forests Executive Director Laura Calandrella reflects on where we have been and where we are headed.
Calandrella [center] leads discussion of the future of Keeping Forests partnership at the 2022 Spring Meeting in Clemson, SC. She is joined by Ken Arney [right], Regional Forester, U.S. Forest Service Southern Region.
I can remember the very first meeting of Keeping Forests that I attended. There were seven of us gathered in a conference room that January at the U.S. Forest Service’s Atlanta office. We were there to answer one question:
How do we conserve and sustain the 245 million acres of remaining forest in the South?
While we knew that the question wouldn’t be resolved that day, there was something powerful that we walked away with: we believed that we could. We also knew that it would take many more voices, partners from all sectors, and a deep commitment to stay the course. That was six and half years ago.
Keeping Forests is one of the largest regionally focused forest conservation efforts. We didn’t back down from the idea that the best and most effective solutions had to be landscape-level. They had to acknowledge and be responsive to the diverse ecological, economic, cultural, and political systems across an entire region. The boldness of this vision is compelling even in all its complexity.
I would like to acknowledge Ken Arney (Regional Forester, U.S. Forest Service Southern Region) and Carlton Owen (former CEO, U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities). Their passion and concern for the future of southern forests was the seed of this collaborative effort. They held the vision and provided the funding that has allowed Keeping Forests to grow into what it is today. And the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities have continued to convene and lead from behind in a powerful way.
I would also like to acknowledge the work of Scott Davis (former Executive Director, Keeping Forests). He challenged us to define strategies that addressed the entire southern forest ecosystem. He led Keeping Forests during the extremely tumultuous years of the pandemic without the partnership losing momentum. What he left behind was a dynamic approach to conservation that ensures that those who come behind us will have something to build upon.
If you would have asked me six years ago if that single meeting would lead to the partnership that exists today, I couldn’t have imagined it. Keeping Forests has evolved into something different than I have ever experienced over a 20-year career focused on collaborative conservation.
We are a partnership with a laser focus on creating the enabling conditions that empower private landowners to manage their forest land in sustainable ways. Our market-driven strategies are innovative because we direct our efforts at gaps that no one else has filled. We catalyze solutions that can be used, replicated, and scaled. And because everything we do is in collaboration, we’re able to bring resources to bear that no single organization could provide alone.
I am beyond proud of how far Keeping Forests has come. What we’ve accomplished so far is because of our partners. They’ve invested countless hours, energy, and finances into this work. A day-in-the-life of Keeping Forests often looks like a Zoom meeting. However, those meetings are bursting with insight from people who come from vastly different corners of the conservation and forestry worlds. (Our partners also happen to be a lot of fun – which I think is what has helped us get through those meetings and the challenges that any collaboration faces in the first few years).
And: we’re just getting started.
I am humbled to step into the role of Executive Director. It comes with an equal amount of excitement and readiness. We have built a strong foundation. Now it’s time to light the match to clear the way for what’s next. So, what is next?
We are at a unique point in American history where unprecedented levels of funding are being invested in conservation. The world is finally paying attention to the issues that have been our life’s work. Keeping Forests is well-positioned to take advantage of both. The next years are a time for thinking big, implementing quickly, and rapidly adapting.
Keeping Forests is no longer seven people at a table. We have an entire partnership driving our mission forward. Now is the time to take some calculated risks. If not now, when? Because what was once a conference room is now a wide-open opportunity for continued collaboration with existing and new partners across the South who share the belief that we will keep forests as forests.
