Learning Network: Main Page

The National Forest Foundation (NFF) is committed to facilitating the sharing of knowledge about stewardship of our National Forests and Grasslands. Our objectives are to:

  • Support a feedback loop between the science of restoration and on-the-ground practice;
  • Foster peer-to-peer and community-to-agency connections among people working in rural and underserved communities;
  • Support exchange of knowledge, tools and best practices;
  • Identify common challenges and move to team problem-solving;
  • Promote the development of new understandings around the ecological, social and economic objectives of collaborative forest stewardship; and
  • Build the organizational capacity of collaborative groups.

We employ two major strategies in advancing learning to benefit our National Forests and Grasslands:

Through the NFF's Learning Network, we highlight information and resources on specific topics. Current topics include:

Peer Learning Philosophy

Community-based conservation, especially in the realm of collaborative stewardship and restoration, continues to grow and evolve. We believe:

  • Much of the knowledge gained through the experience of collaborative groups is on the cutting edge of the field and has not yet been documented;
  • People naturally learn by working on current, real-world challenges and sharing ideas with each other along the way;
  • Peer learning is an efficient way to share knowledge with others; and
  • By connecting people across rural areas, states, regions and disciplines, we are fostering a network that we hope will sustain itself beyond specific learning opportunities.

Linking the Science and the Practice of Restoration

Much of the NFF's and our partners' restoration project work requires science that is both useful and sound. In 2002, the NFF formed a partnership with the National Commission on Science for Sustainable Forestry (NCSSF), a results-oriented group formed to provide practical information and approaches that serve the needs of forest managers, practitioners and policymakers. This partnership's purpose was to plan and oversee a multi-year program of research, assessment and tool-development needed to design, implement and evaluate sustainable forestry practices while conserving biodiversity in the United States.

  • Between 2002 and 2006, the NCSSF worked to:
  • Initiate projects focused on synthesizing existing scientific information with applied science and disseminating that information in a useful and productive way to forest practitioners;
  • Increase communication among researchers and forest practitioners; and
  • Develop useful ways to measure the success of sustainable forestry practices in improving and protecting biodiversity.

One product of the NCSSF and NFF partnership is Broadening Participation in Biological Monitoring: Guidelines for Scientists and Managers, a how-to manual produced by the Institute for Culture and Ecology. The document provides hands-on resources for developing, implementing and evaluating a participatory monitoring plan for a partnership or project.

Following the conclusion of the NCSSF's work in 2007, the NFF is currently exploring new ways to enable synergism and mutual benefit from the linking of science and practice. Please check back soon for more information about our emerging initiatives in this area.

Current Topics:

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