February 8, 2012 – The Wallow Fire, largest wildfire in Arizona’s history, raged through the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest last June charring more than ½ million acres of precious woodlands. Now, the matchstick-like logs reaching to the sky are vivid reminders of the devastation and a forest forever changed.

The message is clear: everyone benefits from a healthy forest. Now, a group of environmentalists, small business members and government officials have formed an organization called the White Mountain Forest Restoration Partnership (WMFRP) to help raise money to restore the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest. Recently, the group of concerned stakeholders developed a campaign  ‒ “It only take $1 to see the future” ‒ asking nature lovers and urbanites alike for donations to restore the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest. The campaign message is designed to let people know that every little bit counts.  

Many were reminded by last year’s Wallow Fire of the dangers and dire need for forest treatment. “This is a critical message. What people don’t understand is that a healthy forest is vital to everyone’s quality of life, whether you live in a mountain community or a desert metropolis like Phoenix,” Molly Pitts, Executive Director of the Northern Arizona Wood Products Association, said. “Forests serve as a natural playground where families experience the outdoors together, camping, fishing, hiking, biking and hunting. But, even for those who don’t experience the forest firsthand, they are still affected by the water they drink. Forests also act as nature’s reservoirs, distributing water into our streams and rivers.”   

The restoration work under the White Mountain Stewardship Contract was touted for saving towns such as Alpine, Greer and Eagar. The thinning treatment brought the fire from the crowns of the trees down to the ground, allowing firefighters to take control. “We know, and have experienced firsthand with the Wallow Fire, treatment works. Many of us who live in the area see it every day. It is a vivid reminder, the black matchsticks coming down the mountain, turning to brown and then to green before hitting our towns, of what was saved and what was lost,” Pitts said.

Recently the National Forest Foundation (NFF) joined the WMFRP donation efforts as the group’s fiscal partner, providing online donation capacity and advertising. The NFF has also made a commitment to Arizona’s forests by recently adding the region to its Treasured Landscapes forest restoration campaign. “The National Forest Foundation is dedicated to engaging diverse individuals and partners in the stewardship of our treasured National Forests,” said National Forest Foundation Vice President Jennifer Schoonen. “By joining together with the White Mountain Forest Restoration Partnership, we can help give Arizona’s communities and visitors the chance to restore the resources that make the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest a spectacular place to live, work and play.”

The WMFRP group will focus their efforts on campers over the summer by placing posters and distributing brochures at campsites throughout northeast Arizona. “If every forest visitor gave just $1, we would be able to raise a half million dollars toward restoration,” Pitts said.

Last summer’s Wallow Fire near Eagar/Springerville, Alpine and Nutrioso, causing massive evacuations in the area, is all too familiar for residents in the White Mountains.  In 2002, the Rodeo-Chediski wildfire raged through the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, scorching almost 500,000 acres of forest land and destroying more than 400 homes. Since 2004, partially as a result of the wildfire, the USDA Forest Service has been proactively restoring the forest to more natural tree densities through the White Mountain Stewardship project. The 10-year project, which removes small-diameter trees, was designed to protect surrounding communities from the threat of wildfires, protect the state’s water reservoirs and develop new markets for wood residue to improve local economies.

Since the project’s inception, more than 50,000 acres throughout the White Mountains have been thinned. And the wood collected is sent to local businesses that turn the wood residue into value-added products, including renewable energy in the form of wood pellets. However, with the recent budget cuts and the economic downturn, the Forest Service, local businesses and environmentalists are looking for help to restore the forests in the form of donations.

To help restore the Apache-Sitgreaves, click here. 

For more information about forest restoration in the White Mountains, visit www.fs.fed.us/r3/asnf/stewardship/ or  www.futureforest.info.

Last fall the quilters visited Whychus Creek for inspiration for the quilt.

Sisters, Oregon (Feb. 21, 2012) – Outdoors lovers, quilters and anyone with a good idea are invited to enter an upcoming Facebook contest to name a masterpiece-in-progress, the Quilt for Two Rivers.

The Quilt for Two Rivers engages some of the Pacific Northwest’s foremost fabric artists to raise awareness of the stunning waterways that frame the Sisters Country.  A collaboration between the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show, the National Forest Foundation and the U.S. Forest Service, the quilt brings together 21 quilters who are combining talents on a single work; a 40-foot quilt with Whychus Creek running through each individual segment.

Fulfilling one aim of NFF’s Treasured Landscapes program, the project is strengthening connections to the outdoors by reaching out to new audiences to get them involved in their own “backyard” National Forests.

Also, proceeds from the sale of each quilt will be split between the quilters and restoration projects on Whychus and the Metolius River.

Pick the Winning Name for the Quilt for Two Rivers and Win $100

“One of our goals is to encourage the public’s interest in natural landscapes and get people outside enjoying them,” notes Maret Pajutee, an ecologist for the U.S. Forest Service in Sisters.  “We’re hosting a Facebook contest in May to introduce a broader audience to a magnificent resource that is often overlooked in Central Oregon, Whychus Creek.”  The contest launches May 7; watch the Quilt for Two Rivers Facebook page for instructions.

The collaborating quilters are also posting stories about their quilt panels at sponsoring organizations’ blogs.  The first post, describing Jean Wells’ quilt panel, will appear Feb. 21 at http://sistersoutdoorquiltshow.wordpress.com and http://stitchinpostinsisters.typepad.com.

Quilt for Two Rivers is a project of the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show, U.S. Forest Service,  and the National Forest Foundation, funded by US Bank with the participation of the Deschutes County Cultural Coalition, the Oregon Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Contacts:

• Ann Richardson, Executive Director, Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show, Ann@soqs.org
• Maret Pajutee, Ecologist, U.S. Forest Service, Sisters Ranger District, mpajutee@fs.fed.us
• Karly Hedrick, National Forest Foundation, karly@sisterscountry.com
  

JUNEAU, Alaska- The U.S. Forest Service, in partnership with the National Forest Foundation, is proud to announce the recipients of a new grant program designed to assist communities in creating forest-based jobs. The program, called the Community Capacity and Land Stewardship Grant, aims to create jobs that foster healthy communities and a healthy forest.

Close to $100,000 was awarded to four community-based organizations supporting a range of projects and work across Southeast Alaska. "Seeing money go straight to local organizations to help facilitate work on the ground is really rewarding," said Kathleen Dowd-Gailey, Northwest regional director for the National Forest Foundation. "We're excited to see these projects move forward to benefit Southeast's forests and communities."

Specifically, grants were awarded for the following projects:

• The Organized Village of Kake will hire a part-time stewardship coordinator to help build local community capacity to participate in forest stewardship projects near Kake

• The Sitka Conservation Society will work with the community of Sitka and the Sitka Collaborative Stewardship group to expand watershed restoration projects and to catalyze use of young growth timber.

• The Southeast Alaska Conservation Council will work with small business owners and individuals throughout Southeast Alaska to improve understanding of Forest Service contracting and permitting processes, enabling them to perform restoration, young growth and stewardship work on the Tongass National Forest.

• The Juneau Watershed Partnership will bring together local stakeholders and use a landscape scale approach to analyze, catalog, and prioritize potential restoration and mitigation projects in Juneau watersheds.

Local businesses are enthusiastic about the grants, and what opportunities might emerge. "There are a lot of opportunities for using young growth timber from the Tongass," said Sitka contractor Marcel LaPerriere, owner of Southeast Cedar Homes, which uses wood from local sources. "I believe this is an opportunity to raise awareness and increase the commercial use around the region."

The emphasis on collaboration between the government and local interests is also strongly supported by the Forest Service. "This grant recognizes the hard work of Kake and other stakeholders to identify the opportunities they share on public lands," said Jason Anderson, Petersburg District Ranger. "I am thrilled to be a new participant in the effort, in hopes that the work we do for the public good can be a source of local employment for rural communities."

The grant will be open for a second round in late spring, offering another opportunity for Southeast-based organizations and communities to compete for funds. The Forest Service and National Forest Foundation will make an announcement preceding this second round.

The contest aims to motivate student teams to create business plans that reflect real opportunities for finding market-based incentives to address forest stewardship challenges on National Forest System lands.

MISSOULA, MONT. – The National Forest Foundation (NFF) announces the launch of the Barrett Foundation Prize to encourage fresh, creative ideas regarding public lands stewardship. The contest challenges teams of cross-disciplinary university students to create new solutions to the escalating problems of natural resource management amidst economic slowdown, demographic changes, changing American values and increasing anthropogenic impacts on natural systems.

The contest aims to motivate student teams to create business plans that reflect real opportunities for finding market-based incentives to address forest stewardship challenges on National Forest System lands. Through a pre-proposal selection process, 10 teams will be selected as finalists and invited to submit complete business plans for the challenge. From the 10 final teams, a first-prize winning team will be selected and will receive a $50,000 cash reward. Four runners up will each receive a $10,000 cash reward.

The Barrett Foundation Challenge has four primary objectives:

• To educate students through the process of creating and evaluating new approaches to forestry and integrated natural resource management;
  
• To prepare students to work in an interdisciplinary, team-oriented work environment to seek practical solutions to complex challenges;
  
• To stimulate creative thinking that leads to harnessing the unique ideas generated through the planning process; and
• To provide real world solutions that satisfy the multiple goals of forest health, sustainable use and job creation.

“Facing climate change, spreading invasive species and escalating wildfires, we need to be increasingly creative with forest management and conservation strategies,” said NFF President Bill Possiel. “Our public lands are important to the future of our nation – and what better way to plan for that future than by engaging tomorrow’s business and natural resource professionals to develop solutions to increasingly complex public lands management challenges.”

Pre-proposals must be submitted electronically by March 16, 2012.

Complete proposal materials can be found here.

The training sessions will provide participants with specific tools and resources necessary to carry out projects and management strategies that promote the local watershed resources, economy and health. At the forum, participants will have the opportunity to identify strategic partnership opportunities and ways to work collaboratively across the region that will continue to support and enhance informed community-based watershed projects and management strategies.

On the second day of the forum a  poster session will provide an opportunity for participants to learn from their peers and explore what they are doing to promote watershed resiliency and sustainable communities. All poster abstracts are due by February 13 and will be entered in a drawing to win a travel scholarship to the forum. For the full agenda, click here.

Registration for the event is now open online.

Speakers include: Pam Randles, Education Director, Takshanuk Watershed Council; Mike Gracz, Ecologist and PhD Candidate, Kenai Watershed Forum; A.J. Conley, Executive Director, Taiya Inlet Watershed Council; Jon Waterhouse, Executive Director, Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council; Matt Lacroix, Environmental Protection Agency, Region 10; Frankie Barker, Environmental Planner, Mat-Su Borough; Teri Camery, Senior Planner and Nicole Jones, Planner City and Borough of Juneau; Beverly Schoonover, Technical Advisor, Juneau Watershed Partnership; Barbara Wyckoff, Dynamic Consulting; Neil Stichert, Restoration Biologist, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; John Hudson, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Scott Harris, Restoration Coordinator, Sitka Conservation Society; Sheila Jacobsen, U.S. Forest Service, Tongass National Forest; Bill Lucey, Planner and Biologist, Yakutat City and Borough; Jessica Kayser, Director, Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition; Brad Ryan, Executive Director Takshanuk Watershed Council; and Sue Mauger, Cook Inlet Keeper.

Southeast Alaska encompasses an area more than 50,000 square miles and stretches more than 500 miles from the Bering Glacier in the north to the Prince of Wales Island in the south. Watersheds within the region support not only the diverse ecosystems in the region they supply the natural resources upon which local communities rely on. Each community has its own identity but all share a focus and dependence on the resources these watersheds. The goal of the Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition is for Southeast Alaska to be a place where a network of community-based watershed efforts is achieving informed management of these resources.

A young volunteer helps out at a Friends of the Forest day on the Deschutes National Forest on National Public Lands Day this past September.

From new partnerships, to the expansion of our Treasured Landscapes, Unforgettable Experiences campaign, to more than 3 million trees planted, the NFF’s work in 2011 set new records in addressing the myriad challenges facing America’s National Forests and Grasslands. The past year saw the NFF expand its scope of operations by opening a new field office in Colorado, adding to our existing offices in California, Oregon and Washington. This growth in staff and field locations enables the NFF to better collaborate with local and regional partners and manage on-the-ground restoration work for the benefit of our public lands.

The wide-reaching conservation work achieved in 2011 includes:

• The NFF awarded 150 grants to local conservation organizations to engage their communities in direct on-the-ground restoration projects on their local National Forests. Grantee groups hail from around the country and involved more than 12,000 local volunteers in improving and caring for their National Forests.
• The NFF organized 9 Friends of the Forest® Days events, getting 423 volunteers actively engaged in forest restoration activities, and tallying an impressive 2,359 hours restoring our National Forests.
• The NFF continued large-scale restoration work on Treasured Landscapes conservation campaign sites around the country, including:
• Development of the long-term restoration vision plan for Midewin National Tallgrass in collaboration with many regional stakeholders.
• Launching work identified through the comprehensive restoration plan designed by pre-eminent stream hydrologist, Dave Rosgen, for the Hayman site in Colorado.
• Creation of wildlife openings and restoration of oak-woodland habitats for wildlife on Arkansas' Ozark National Forest.
• Continued streamside restoration along the Metolius River and Whychus Creek in Oregon’s Deschutes National Forest, even as the first returning native salmon began to make their way back to these historic habitats.

• Nearly 1,400 stewardship projects completed.
• Leveraging of more than $24 million with $78 million in matching support to achieve $102 million in on-the-ground conservation investments.
• 8.035 miles of trail-work.
• 1, 086,594 volunteer hours donated.
• 3,095,179 trees and shrubs planted.
• 2,860 miles of stream surveyed or restored.
• 61,527 acres of noxious weeds treated.
• 48,105 acres of wildlife habitat restored or maintained.
• 15,137 youth employed or engaged in National Forest projects.

The NFF has also actively facilitated capacity building for grass-roots conservation at the local level, as well as the formation of collaborative groups, which bring local stakeholders together to solve natural resource issues. Since 2001, the NFF has supported 95 capacity-building processes, 64 new collaboratives, and 42 existing collaboratives, while 167 representatives of these groups have participated in NFF capacity-building and training workshops.

The NFF’s tree-planting program and Carbon Capital Fund also continue to grow. Since the programs began in 2007, we have planted more than 3 million trees – from red oaks in North Carolina to ponderosa pines in Arizona. This year saw the NFF forge new Carbon Capital Fund partnerships with the Chevrolet Motor Company and the Walt Disney Company to develop carbon demonstration projects on the San Juan National Forest in Colorado and the Angeles National Forest in California. Other non-carbon tree-planting locations include: Arizona, Tennessee, Vermont, Florida, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Washington. In addition to providing the next generation of Americans with beautiful forests for recreation and relaxation, these trees sequester carbon, support important wildlife habitat, decrease air pollution, and protect watersheds that feed public water supplies.

The National Forest Foundation (NFF) is proud to announce a new Carbon Capital Fund partnership with Chevrolet Motor Company. This exciting project will result in the planting of 112,500 Engelmann spruce trees on 250 acres of the San Juan National Forest near Durango, in southwestern Colorado, in the fall of 2011. This innovative partnership is the latest example of how the NFF’s Carbon Capital Fund (CCF) program fosters reforestation of National Forests through carbon offset purchases. In 2007, the NFF recognized that National Forests play a critical role in sequestering the carbon dioxide emissions generated in the United States. In an effort to expand the role that the National Forest System plays in sequestering carbon, the NFF, in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service, developed the CCF.

This unique program allows the NFF to provide non-tradeable, non-compliance, voluntary carbon offsets to companies like Chevrolet, in exchange for reforestation of public lands. As the trees are planted, grow and mature, they absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and, through photosynthesis, turn it into carbon and oxygen. The oxygen is respirated into the atmosphere and the carbon is incorporated into the tree’s woody structure.  While these CCF projects are driven by the purchase of carbon offsets, reforestation offers a host of additional benefits to the American public, from clean water and air, to improved wildlife habitat, to better recreation opportunities and enhanced aesthetics.

NFF President Bill Possiel said, “Chevy’s investment in reforestation on the San Juan National Forest is ensuring the recovery of an area that would not otherwise regenerate trees in our lifetime. The project provides measurable emissions reductions and directly benefits a resource the American public owns. Through this partnership, Chevy is helping the National Forest Foundation protect America’s backyard.” 

The San Juan project is undergoing strict screening and certification review by the American Carbon Registry, where it will be listed as a registered carbon project, and further independent review by the validation/verification body, Scientific Certification Systems. This review ensures that carbon offsets are real, verifiable, and additional. The San Juan project is part of a larger effort by Chevrolet to offset 8 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions over the next few years.

“Now that we’re committed to 16 diversified projects, we are fortified in our support of community-based, carbon-reduction initiatives,” said Chris Perry, vice president of Chevrolet Global Marketing and Strategy. “It’s fulfilling to back organizations working toward building a cleaner, more-secure energy future.”

In addition to the carbon project, Chevy is working with the NFF to plant up to 175,000 trees on six National Forests across the country as part of a social media and marketing partnership to engage Americans in their larger carbon reduction efforts. The “Chevrolet Tree Project” is a social media application for Facebook that encourages folks to plant a virtual tree. For each virtual tree planted on Facebook, Chevrolet and the NFF will plant a real tree, up to 175,000, on a National Forest requiring reforestation.

“We are very excited about both the San Juan carbon demonstration project and the Chevrolet Tree Project,” said Greg Peters, NFF development program coordinator. “Through these two initiatives, Chevrolet and the NFF will plant nearly 300,000 trees on National Forests across America, benefiting America’s National Forests for generations to come.”

 Across the United States, the Forest Service estimates that more than 2 million acres of National Forests decimated by wildfires and natural disasters require reforestation. Meanwhile, budgetary limitations and increasingly extensive fire seasons have reduced the Forest Service’s ability to reforest these public lands. The NFF, through the CCF and other tree planting initiatives, promotes the reforestation of these lands by encouraging private contributions. With millions of carbon-absorbing trees planted to date, the NFF is proud to provide the opportunity for the American public to take positive action that provides multiple benefits.  To learn more, please visit www.nationalforests,org, or contact Greg Peters at gpeters@nationalforests.org or 406-830-3361.

Give the gift of trees this holiday season

Your gift helps ensure the many benefits and beauties of our National Forests and Grasslands will endure for future generations. The NFF works on behalf of these treasured landscapes ~ restoring forests and watersheds, improving wildlife habitat, and enhancing outdoor recreation resources. At this critical time, when factors from invasive species to climate change threaten the future vitality of our National Forests, your support is more important than ever.

So, this year ~ why not plant trees for friends and family and wrap clean air, fresh water and wildlife habitat into one great package. Avoid the crowds and stress, save energy, and help Protect America’s Backyard.

*SPECIAL HOLIDAY OFFER:  If you support the NFF with a gift of $50 or more, all of the benefits of an NFF membership apply, we will plant 20 trees AND send your giftee America’s National Forests – a handy guide to activities, sightseeing, and things to do on your National Forests. A $100 gift includes 50 trees and America’s National Forests guide.

CLICK HERE to support your forests and grasslands AND give the gift that keeps on giving ~ for the birds. . . and your Uncle Joe!

If you prefer to make a contribution offline, please contact:

MORRISON, Colo. – Prominent hydrologist Dave Rosgen is breaking ground on a project to restore a section of Trail Creek, which flows into to the Upper South Platte River.  This area burned intensely during the Hayman Fire and continues to produce sediment flows that are 16 times greater than before the fire almost 10 years ago.

“This project is the most comprehensive fire restoration project targeted to critical watersheds in which I have engaged,” said Rosgen.   “It will be training ground for how watershed restoration is addressed in the Hayman fire area, and potentially throughout the country.” As the founder of Wildland Hydrology, Rosgen’s approach is EPA-approved and well respected throughout the international hydrological community.

The Hayman Restoration Project was launched in 2009 by the National Forest Foundation (NFF), in partnership with Vail Resorts and the U.S. Forest Service, to restore critical watersheds that continue to produce inordinate amounts of sediment into the Denver Metro water supply.  Aurora Water joined in this partnership in 2011, and has directly contributed to Rosgen’s work.

“Mr. Rosgen’s expertise is unmatched. By pulling our resources together within the framework of this partnership the U.S. Forest Service and the Coalition for the Upper South Platte River are able to apply these internationally-recognized techniques to a particularly problematic section of this watershed,” said Kim Langmaid, NFF Colorado Program Director.

“We are so proud to help fund work that will have a dramatic and immediate impact here in Colorado while changing how wildfire restoration is approached across the country, “ said Beth Ganz, vice-president of public affairs and sustainability for Vail Resorts.

Forest Supervisor Jeri Marr welcomes the application of Rosgen’s restoration concepts.  “We hold high expectations for this stream restoration and sediment reduction plan as we approach the 10th anniversary of the Hayman Fire.  We hope to reduce sediment flow in areas restored within the Trail Creek watershed by 80 percent in the first year,” said Marr, Pike and San Isabel National Forests, and Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands.

WILMINGTON, ILLINOIS -- On Friday, October 14, governmental, environmental and corporate leaders gathered at the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie to celebrate a unique partnership to restore America’s native tallgrass prairie ecosystem. The National Forest Foundation (NFF) has launched a large-scale initiative that unites public and private partners to revitalize a rare stretch of tallgrass prairie and reconnect people to our Midwestern prairie heritage.

America’s prairies once stretched far and wide, but agricultural use and development have left us with less than one-tenth of one percent of our historic prairie lands. In northeastern Illinois, the prairie changed dramatically first through agriculture and wetland drainage, and then again when what is now the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie served as the site of the Joliet Army Ammunition Plant. About 45 percent of today’s Midewin area was modified for the construction of roads, railroads, and buildings. The arsenal’s manufacture of TNT and other explosives further damaged the surrounding natural environment.

Through a grassroots effort, the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie was authorized by legislation in 1996 that allowed the transfer of over 19,000 acres from the U.S. Army to the U.S. Forest Service. Today, as the largest single parcel of protected open space in northeastern Illinois, Midewin plays an essential role in the Chicago Wilderness Region, an integrated plan for more than 200,000 acres of conservation lands open for public enjoyment.

“Today is a landmark day, when the National Forest Foundation joins with us to help us accomplish our vision of creating a legacy of restored tallgrass prairie and conservation of open lands for future generations to treasure,” said Wade Spang, Midewin prairie supervisor.

In designating Midewin as a Treasured Landscapes restoration site, the NFF has first focused on the South Prairie Creek Outwash Plain – about 2,084 acres on the prairie’s western side. When complete, this restoration activity will link together two ongoing restoration projects and many native prairie/wetland remnants, increasing habitat connectivity for grassland wildlife.

But beyond this project, there are significant ongoing restoration needs. To address those needs, the NFF brought together a diverse group of area stakeholders – including The Wetlands Initiative, Openlands, Chicago Wilderness, and several others – to help craft a 10-year “Shared Vision for Restoration.” This long-term plan lays out a strategy for restoring the entire prairie and for significantly enhancing the visitor experience at Midewin – with everything from expanded trail systems to reintroducing bison.

“Midewin offers us a rare opportunity to actually turn back the clock and restore a native landscape to its historical conditions,” said NFF President Bill Possiel. “Thanks to a tremendous collaborative effort, we now have a plan in place to unite public and private partners in a restoration strategy that will put waves of tallgrass prairie back in the Prairie State.”

The NFF's restoration and restoration planning work at Midewin has been generously supported by Alliance Pipeline and the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation.

See the Midewin Shared Vision Plan here.

WATCH OUR MIDEWIN VIDEO.

About the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie

The Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie was established in 1996 on the former U.S. Army Joliet Arsenal. It is the first national tallgrass prairie in the country and one of the newest units of the National Forest System. Midewin represents a major effort to restore 20,000 acres of farmland and industrial land to a unique American landscape and the complex ecology of a tallgrass prairie. Its mission also includes providing education and recreation opportunities. All of Midewin’s programs and progress are thanks to the support of hundreds of volunteers and partner agencies, businesses, and organizations. Public access to Midewin was restricted during the Army’s cleanup of contaminants remaining from decades of munitions manufacture. But, today, the Army cleanup is complete and 7,200 acres of Midewin and 22 miles of trails are open to the public for nonmotorized recreation. Midewin is also the largest open space in the Chicago metropolitan area and northeastern Illinois. Even while ecological restoration is underway, it offers respite from the urban world and an opportunity to be immersed in a unique landscape within an hour’s drive of downtown Chicago. 

Tucked into a narrow valley in the heart of the Allegheny National Forest, Sheffield’s history is steeped in forest use; timber mills and lumber yards long reigned supreme, leaving behind a degraded forest in their wake.  Now local students are putting their heads together and their hands to work, envisioning a different future for their backyard forest.

In the early 1900s, deforestation driven by the growth of eastern cities and intense demand for the Allegheny Plateau’s timber largely eliminated Pennsylvania’s old-growth forest of hemlock and beech.  Sheffield, said to have been home to the largest lumber yard east of the Mississippi, played no small part in the state’s deforestation.  While lumber was shipped by train to meet demands of a growing country, bark from the then-abundant hemlocks provided ideal tannins for turning hides into valuable leather.  The cost was a denuded forest and degraded wildlife habitat on the Plateau.

Now, 75 years since the Allegheny National Forest was established, a new forest of black cherry and other hardwoods has emerged.  Despite the new tree growth, native plants and animals still struggle to flourish. 

Working with the National Wild Turkey Federation and Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, the National Forest Foundation is improving some 5,000 acres of habitat for diverse birds and mammals. Restoration efforts include tree thinning and planting, eradication of invasive species, vernal pond construction and installation of nesting and roosting structures. Additionally, ten stream crossings will be improved with new culverts and bridges, reducing sediment in nearby streams and improving fisheries.

As part of a high-school forestry course, Sheffield students partnered with the National Forest Foundation and the Allegheny National Forest to help with hands-on restoration and learn about the ecology of the forest.  An elective at Sheffield High School, the forestry course combines classroom studies with field exercises, and even challenges students to write a management plan for a five-acre forest. 

During the day in the field with the National Forest Foundation, students helped monitor area streams for sediments and erosion debris, and installed bird and bat boxes to help maintain wildlife diversity.  As teams of students lifted the ten-foot tall, top-heavy bat boxes into place, they joked that they looked like the soldiers at Iwo Jima.  In fact, they too are holding up an American treasure, restoring the Allegheny National Forest to its earlier splendor one bat box at a time.

Earlier this year, The National Forest Foundation teamed up with Sonadei, a unique apparel design company, to offer the first in a series of special bike jerseys dedicated to our National Forests. Thanks to ongoing demand, Sonadei has reopened the ordering process and shortened the turn-around.

Whether you love to bank long miles on the road or rattle down a mountain trail, this jersey will serve you well. And the best part? Proceeds from the sale of this jersey design will directly support conservation and restoration projects along two of Oregon's most loved Wild and Scenic Rivers -- Whychus Creek and the Metolius River.

Featuring a spectacular river image from Central Oregon's Deschutes National Forest (by Bend photographer Mike Putnam), the jersey comes in a unisex club fit with short sleeves, a v-neck collar, and 3 back pockets. Cost is just $85 -- a great deal considering you get a one-of-a-kind jersey while helping to revitalize two of Oregon's beautiful rivers.

The NFF and Sonadei are now orders on a rolling basis with delivery planned for approximately three weeks after the order.

Stay tuned for more designs as well. Future jerseys will feature other forests where the NFF has Treasured Landscapes campaign sites -- from Alaska's Tongass to Florida's Ocala.

ORDER YOURS TODAY!

About Sonadei
An apparel design company based in Seattle, Sonadei passionately supports the National Forest Foundation and donates a portion of all their proceeds to the NFF. Sonadei also works with local and international events and teams to help with their graphic design and apparel needs. Check out their unique t-shirt designs too! www.sonadei.com

For that memorable backpacking trip … for the clean water flowing from your tap … for the chance to glimpse a massive bull moose … September 24 is your day to say thank you.

National Public Lands Day, held annually in September, is the nation’s largest single-day volunteer event for public lands in the United States. Each year, thousands of volunteers turn out to remove trash, pull invasive weeds, improve trails and do much more to improve the public lands that provide us all with so many benefits.

With our community-based mission, the National Forest Foundation is dedicated to involving people and communities in this very type of environmental stewardship year-round. But the NFF is also helping to add to the results that National Public Lands Day generates with some NFF-sponsored events this September 24.

Check out our volunteer opportunities page to learn more or sign up to volunteer for one of these great projects:

** Engage in family-friendly conservation work at the NFF’s Tale of Two Rivers conservation campaign site on Oregon’s Deschutes National Forest, where the fisheries of Whychus Creek and the Metolius River are benefitting from active community support.

** Join the NFF and REI Northridge/Arcadia to restore the Wildwood Picnic Area and Stone Canyon Trail in California’s Angeles National Forest, an NFF Treasured Landscapes campaign site.

** Help improve wildlife habitat at another NFF Treasured Landscapes site by enhancing forest openings and streams in the Bearcat Hollow area of Arkansas’ Ozark National Forest.

Or if you need to find something closer to home, search the National Public Lands Day volunteer opportunities posted on their web site at http://www.publiclandsday.org.  

MISSOULA, MONT. – The National Forest Foundation (NFF) announces a new partnership that harnesses the power of Facebook to reforest America’s National Forests. The Eurisko Gaia Facebook application allows users to plant trees on locations throughout the Americas including several U.S. National Forests. Users select tree-planting locations and purchase, plant and maintain trees through the interactive Facebook application. Users can also update their friends, see where others have planted their trees, and check on the status of their plantings in real time through the use of mobile apps.

America’s National Forests have suffered unprecedented devastation in the past few years, from massive wildfires to insect infestations to tornados and floods. Reforestation of these public lands is a priority of the NFF. Greg Peters, who manages the NFF’s tree-planting program, said, “The NFF is excited to partner with Eurisko Gaia. Millions of acres of vibrant National Forests have been decimated by natural causes in the past decades. The Eurisko Gaia Facebook application not only helps restore the health and vitality of these amazing landscapes, but also connects and engages people with their National Forests, something the NFF values, while allowing them to share their new connection with their friends.”

Eurisko Gaia is receiving notice and support from activists, conservationists, and even Hollywood celebrities. Shiva Rose, actress, activist, and writer (www.thelocalrose.com) notes that, “Eurisko Gaia is a smart and easy way we can replenish our forests. The cyber age can replenish our great mother.” In addition to providing aesthetic beauty, trees provide a host of “ecosystem services,” such as sequestering carbon, cleaning our air and water, providing wildlife habitat, and enhancing recreational opportunities that improve quality of life and reduce costs to society as a whole. Ms. Rose is right; Eurisko Gaia is a smart and easy way to help restore our National Forests.

While Eurisko Gaia is designed for individual users, there are nearly limitless opportunities for businesses to promote tree-planting through the application and add a unique and engaging element to their corporate social responsibility programs. Because Eurisko Gaia “plants” a customized notice on users’ friends’ pages, reflecting the messaging and branding of the business sponsoring the tree-planting, businesses gain branded access to potentially millions of impressions and widespread recognition for engaging in an important green cause. Some potential partnership types include: grocery store chains providing coupons for trees to customers based on purchase amounts, products purchased, or as part of a rewards/loyalty program, or retail and manufacturing companies offering certificates to their employees as part of employee recognition programs.

Zack Anton, founder and CEO of Eurisko, believes that by combining ecological restoration with social media platforms and mobile application capabilities, significant benefits can accrue to forestlands across the United States. He said, “The NFF is a marquee name in the conservation of our National Forests, especially in tree-planting. Their contributions are well documented and evident in almost every region of the country, and we feel confident that by combining the NFF’s historically successful approach to planting trees with the popularity and increasing reach of social networking, we will produce a windfall of participation by people to help America stay green and beautiful.”

Currently, the NFF and Eurisko Gaia have highlighted the following National Forests (locations will change and be added over time) on the application:

·         Angeles National Forest, California. Native trees will be planted in appropriate locations on the site of the 161,000-acre Station Fire.

·         Ocala National Forest, Florida. Longleaf pine trees will be planted as part of a large-scale effort to reestablish the majestic longleaf forests that once covered 90 million acres of the south.

·         Deschutes National Forest, Oregon. Native trees will be planted in appropriate locations on areas of the Deschutes that experienced severe wildfires in recent years.

·         Pike National Forest, Colorado. Native trees will be planted in appropriate locations on the site of the 2002 Hayman Fire that burned more than 135,000 acres of the forest that serves as Denver’s main watershed.

·         Mark Twain National Forest, Missouri. Native trees will be planted in sites devastated by massive tornados that tore through Missouri’s forests in 2011.

As with all National Forest reforestation efforts sponsored by the NFF, these trees will protect critical water supplies, improve wildlife habitat for threatened and endangered species, enhance recreational opportunities, and sequester carbon while improving air quality.

To plant trees with the NFF and Eurisko Gaia, visit www.euriskogaia.com or follow the Facebook link directly https://apps.facebook.com/euriskogaia/.

AURORA, COLO. -- This year has seen a large number of forest fires throughout the southwestern United States, which has Front Range municipalities examining how to protect the land around the reservoirs and rivers that provide drinking water. Aurora Water has joined the efforts of the National Forest Foundation, Vail Resorts and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) in restoring the Pike National Forest impacted by the Hayman fire in 2002. This area is part of the South Platte River basin upstream of Strontia Springs Reservoir, which Aurora utilizes to bring most of its water supply through.

“Our water supply is dependent upon forest health,” stated Mark Pifher, director of Aurora Water. “The forest is how nature keeps sediment from entering the watershed. Aurora and Denver Water are currently spending millions of dollars to dredge Strontia Springs Reservoir as a result of past fires. Failure to take action now would result in more costly measures in the future.”

The Aurora City Council approved Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) with the NFF and USFS on June 20, 2011, that committed $500,000 over the next two years to restore 45,000 acres burned by the Hayman fire. The NFF project is budgeted at $4,589,000, with half provided by the NFF's donors and partnering organizations and half by the U.S. Forest Service. The investment from Aurora Water will help leverage funds from eight other private partners including a $200,000 challenge grant from The Gates Family Foundation.

Restoration efforts include planting more than 200,000 Ponderosa pine, Douglas fir and other native trees and revegetating over 13 miles of  riverbank with native foliage, such as willows, dogwoods, grasses and sedges. By rehabilitating the landscape, erosion is lessened and water quality in the streams and rivers is improved. Additional benefits include improving habitat for the endangered montane skipper butterfly, revitalizing gold-medal trout fisheries, and the enhancement or creation of 18 miles of recreational trails. Work in the Hayman area is ongoing and involves a combination of volunteers, nonprofits and contract employees, including the Mile High Youth Corps.

“With a restoration need of such scale and importance, it takes a community of partners to get the job done,” said NFF President Bill Possiel. “Aurora Water’s commitment will have a significant restoration impact on the Hayman burn area, while helping to further demonstrate the value of partnerships and collaboration on behalf of our National Forests. We are deeply grateful for their support.”

An additional MOU with the USFS was also approved that would provide for the mountain pine bark beetle mitigation in the San Isabel National Forest in Lake County. Aurora stores water in Twin Lakes and the Mount Elbert Forebay south of Leadville. This activity would include thinning the forest and removing infected and dead trees.

On July 23, 33 artists and seven youth painters joined in the restoration efforts of the National Forest Foundation’s Tale of Two Rivers Treasured Landscapes campaign site on the Whychus and Metolius Rivers near Sisters, Oregon. With each brush stroke, artists made Indian Ford Meadow Preserve an even more unforgettable landscape, creating testaments and tributes to the beauty of this meadow preserve that will serve as records for future generations.

The art created at the Plein Air Paint Out at Indian Ford Meadow Preserve is definitely worth more than a thousand words—characterizing the slow transformation of sagebrush-dotted land to the lush green, creek-fed grasses that flank Indian Ford Creek, providing a riot of color against the background of striking snow-capped peaks.

The French term, en plein air, is used to describe a work of art created in the open air of the outdoors. The National Forest Foundation’s Plein Air Paint Out at Indian Ford Meadow Preserve invited artists to get outside and get inspired. This unique stewardship activity, hosted in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service and Deschutes Land Trust, allowed artists the opportunity to offer their unique perspective of this site in a timed competition. Winning images from the Paint Out are used by local nonprofits, the National Forest Foundation, and the U.S. Forest Service- Sisters Ranger District to enhance the communication of the need to conserve our public lands.

“I’ve used a number of images of the paintings from the Paint Out in my work,” said Maret Pajutee, district ecologist for the Sisters Ranger District. “The reports and presentations of the U.S. Forest Service can often be hard for the public to connect with, but the art really adds life and helps to communicate on a subliminal level the importance of these places.”

The Poster Award winning image, painted by Patricia Gifford, will also be used to promote National Public Lands Day, one of the biggest volunteer events on the Deschutes National Forest.

“It’s through events like the Paint Out that the National Forest Foundation and partners are able to reach out to different groups of people and get them out to enjoy the forests, meadows and land,” explained Lisa Leonard, NFF Oregon program coordinator.

And artists definitely enjoyed the meadow. Painters came from as far away as Chicago and many were from Portland and Bend. Out-of-the-area painters were amazed with the beauty of the meadow, the perfect weather, and the spirit of community.

“This event offers me a way to connect to a new community through our shared interests of nature and art,” said painter Rebecca Brown-Thompson. Several painters said that the highlight of the day was the sense of camaraderie and the tremendous support they felt from the other artists and community members.

Connections were not just made between people, but also between people and the land. The theme of conservation resonated with painter Carlene Murdock. “It is important that we preserve these beautiful lands for future generations and that our grandkids can come to know this place and enjoy it like I have,” she said, pausing between brushstrokes.

Indian Ford Creek is an important tributary of Whychus Creek, which is a focus of anadromous fish reintroduction efforts. Indian Ford Creek also has the highest amount of associated meadow habitats of any other tributary of Whychus Creek. The meadow preserve is a wildlife refuge, which artists learned as they watched a doe bounding through the meadow early in the morning. Indian Ford Meadow Preserve, protected and maintained by the Deschutes Land Trust, is certainly an essential landscape to preserve for coming generations.

Members of this next generation also came to capture the landscape. The seven children who came to participate in the youth competition attended a class offered through Sisters Park and Recreation District from teacher Clay Warburton. “Painting outside is a good stretch for them, and a unique experience,” said Warburton.

Colton Seymour the Youth Honorable Mention winner from last year’s Paint Out, came back to claim victory, taking home the Youth Best In Show prize with a smile.

Other awards were given at the judging reception following the Paint Out. Jurors selected a Judge’s Choice Winner, Nathalie Equall, and an Honorable Mention, Janice Druian. Popular votes determined the winners of the People’s Choice Award and the Artists’ Choice Awards, which went to Norma Holmes and Lise Hoffman-McCabe respectively. Mieke Schmidling took home the Youth Honorable Mention, and Patricia Gifford’s piece was awarded the Poster Award.

Many of the paintings sold at the judging reception, which pleased Kathy Deggendorfer of the Roundhouse Foundation, an important sponsor of the Paint Out. Part of the mission of the Roundhouse Foundation is to encourage economic development through the arts in Central Oregon. Many community members came to support the Paint Out artists by purchasing a painting.

Pieces from the Paint Out will be on display in the Images from Indian Ford art show at Sisters Art Works (204 W. Adams St.) in Sisters, Ore. The opening of the art show will coincide with opportunities for volunteers to engage in conservation projects on National Public Lands Day on Saturday, Sept. 24. The painting will be for sale at Sisters Art Works until October 6. These unique paintings will also be available for purchase at the Sisters Harvest Faire on October 8 and 9.

For more information about how you can buy a painting from the Paint Out or volunteer on National Public Lands Day, contact Karly Hedrick, Sisters Volunteer Bank coordinator, at 541-549-0251 or via email at khedrick@nationalforests.org.

Sisters, Oregon- This Saturday, July 23rd artists will be drawn to Indian Ford Meadow Preserve and surrounding properties to paint scenes of this stunning community preserve, protected and owned by the Deschutes Land Trust. The National Forest Foundation (NFF) and U.S. Forest Service will host the Third Annual Plein Air Paint Out at this picturesque meadow, an important wildlife haven crossed by Indian Ford creek, a tributary of Whychus Creek. 

The Paint Out will help to offer an artists’ eye and appreciation of the natural resources and beautiful landscapes near Sisters, Oregon, while bringing attention to the conservation and stewardship efforts on the Whychus Creek area and the Deschutes National Forest.

Plein Air painting is an opportunity for artist to paint in the open air of the outdoors, inspired by nature and its stunning views. The Paint Out is a timed competition and artists will have four hours to complete and frame an original work on-site.

The resulting paintings are worth much more than a thousand words—communicating the beauty and the need to care for our cherished lands.

Under the Treasured Landscapes conservation campaign, the NFF has designated the Metolius River and Whychus Creek region as one of a handful of project sites. Plans over the next few years include significant watershed restoration and recreational improvement projects to revitalize the area’s natural systems and ensure quality outdoor experiences for visitors.

Sisters Art Works (204 W Adams Street) will display the Paint Out pieces from September 24th to October 6th, with opening following conservation volunteer opportunities on National Public Lands Day, Saturday, September 24th. Also, be sure to look for Images of Indian Ford at the Sisters Harvest Fair on October 8th and 9th.

All artists interested in participating, please contact Karly Hedrick at 541-549-0251 or via email at khedrick@nationalforests.org. A youth Paint Out and class will be offered through Sisters Park and Recreation. Call SPRD at 541-549-2091 for more information on the Youth Paint Out.

Despite grey skies and windy conditions, the 200 riders who participated in last Saturday’s Ride for Two Rivers were in high spirits as they pedaled through scenic central Oregon in support of the Metolius and Whychus watersheds. The event, now in its second year, raises funds for on the ground conservation and restoration projects within the watersheds of the two rivers, which together make up one of the NFF’s designated Treasured Landscapes campaign sites.

Both the 25 mile family friendly Camp Sherman ride and the 51 mile McKenzie Pass ride were a resounding success due to the dedicated support from sponsors and volunteers. Jay Graves from  Bike Gallery was on hand at the start of the ride to help with any last minute mechanical issues and Bend Broadband, who donated a commercial spot for the Ride that ran in Central Oregon, were giving out popular water bottles at the rider check-in tent. Cycle Oregon, one of our two title sponsors along with ODS, did an amazing job managing the route planning and set-up, making sure everyone was safe and properly supported and even warming up chilly riders with hot chocolate at the top of McKenzie Pass. Riders on the Camp Sherman route enjoyed the wonderful hospitality of the Camp Sherman Store, and riders on both routes were grateful for the volunteer-run rest stops and the quick energy boost of the hardboiled eggs provided by Three Creeks Brewing Co.’s Victoria Graves.

A big thanks is also due to Black Butte Ranch, the host of the post-ride dinner.  While 250 riders and guests enjoyed a delicious dinner catered by the Ranch, they were entertained by local musicians Brad Tisdale and Dennis McGregor and emcee and NFF Board Member Bart Eberwein. Dinner guests also had the opportunity to enjoy a special microbrew from Three Creeks Brewing Co., the “Water of Life” alt bier, brewed specifically for the NFF. Lucky raffle winners walked away with a host of great prizes donated by local business and everyone enjoyed the inspirational keynote speech given by the NFF’s own Karly Hedrick.

Overall, the event was a great success thanks to the hard work and dedication of everyone involved. Now, we’re looking forward to another great season of field work and volunteer days this summer, with everyone pulling together to help revitalize and restore these iconic watersheds.  See you all at the Ride for Two Rivers next year!

Title Sponsor: 

Remington Outdoor Foundation

Event Sponsors:

• Paul & Sonia Jones
• Craig & Barbara Barrett
• John & Maureen Hendricks
• InterMedia Outdoors
• NFF Board of Directors
• Sirius Fund
• Verizon Business

Station Sponsors:

• Ralph Bailey Foundation
• Betteridge Jewelers
• David Bell
• Gyro HSR
• Spencer & Tomoko Haber and Timothy P. and Susan Schieffelin
• PricewaterhouseCoopers
• Waterfront NY

Smokey Bear Sponsors:

• Paul Chinelli
• Cushman & Wakefield
• Jack Morton Worldwide
• Lowenstein Sandler PC
• John Henry Moulton
• William J. Possiel
• Sandler O'Neill + Partners
• Tischler Und Sohn USA Ltd.
• Belvedere Property Management / Moore Charitable Foundation
  

Friends of the Forest Sponsors:

• Christopher Buck
• Steve Buffone
• Classic Upland Supply Co.
  
• Robert DiNozzi
• Elliott Management
• Green Earth Technologies, Inc.
• Holland & Holland
• National Museum of Forest Service History
• National Shooting Sports Foundation
• Mark Rey
• Shooters Hill
• Team GCC
• Team Wernert
• Ten Mile River Preserve
• Vertrue LLC

In Kind Support:

• Craig & Barbara Barrett / Triple Creek Ranch
• Beads in the Loft
• Guy Bignell
• Beretta
• Betteridge Jewelers
• Black Diamond
• Boone & Crockett Club
• Tom Brokaw
• Steve Buffone / Gibson Dunn
• Buck Knives
• Paul Chinelli
• Classic Upland Supply Co.
• Coleman
• Cushman & Wakefield, Inc.
• Darien Sport Shop
• Larry DeVan
• Tom Donoghue
• Dover Furnace Shooting Grounds
• Steve Fretty
• Galco
• Jim Green
• Greenwich Orchids
• Grant & Kim Gregory
• John Gray
• Ted & Betsy Gramkow
• Griffin & Howe / Hudson Farm
• Hartz Mountain
• Holland & Holland
• Horseneck Wines & Liquors
• House of Needlepoint
• InterMedia Outdoors
• J. Pocker & Sons
• Jonas Brothers Taxidermy
• Marcella Leone / Lionshare Farm
• Merrell
• Jim Muncey
• National Ski Areas Association
• Outdoor Adventures Worldwide
• Outdoor Connection
• Pawling Mountain Club
• Recreational Equipment, Inc.
  
• Remington Arms Company
• Mark Rey
• Robert Van Loan
• Sam Bridge Nursery
• Timothy & Susan Schieffelin
• David Stockel
• Tamarack Preserve Ltd.
  
• Ten Mile River Preserve
• Teton Grill Co.
• Vail Resorts
• Waterfall Resort
• Will Morton's Rotisserie
  

SEATTLE, Washington—June 6th, 2011— From innovative biomass technology to restoration of degraded streams, important community conservation efforts are getting a boost thanks to a new program from the National Forest Foundation (NFF). Through its new Community Capacity and Land Stewardship program, the NFF has just awarded nearly $150,000 to nine collaborative organizations in the Pacific Northwest.

There is a long history of collaboration associated with watershed restoration in the Pacific Northwest states of Oregon and Washington to address both local natural resource and rural economic development challenges. By working together, the NFF, U.S. Forest Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development are demonstrating a shared commitment to supporting collaborative efforts that further enhance natural resource and watershed restoration, while also helping to build sustainable economic capacities in local communities.

Through the Community Capacity Land Stewardship grant program in Oregon and Washington, the U.S. Forest Service and NRCS Oregon State Office are providing capacity-building support for local collaborative efforts that are working toward improving landscape conditions and water quality. Grant recipients receive financial support to help coordinate and achieve watershed and landscape scale restoration while also providing job opportunities in conservation.

Through this and many other programs, the NFF facilitates local involvement and encourages community participation in forest stewardship to enhance the viability of natural resources while considering benefits to, and the involvement of, surrounding communities.

”We are honored to partner with the U.S. Forest Service, Natural Resources Conservation Council, Rural Development, and other nonprofit partners, including Sustainable Northwest and Oregon Solutions, in the implementation of this innovative capacity-building program,” says Kathleen Dowd-Gailey, regional director of the NFF’s Northwest Programs.  “Through this grant program we aim to support the collaborative groups working diligently on the ground for the benefit of communities and our National Forests. We hope that in the future this program will grow to be replicated in other regions across the country.”

In addition to many other benefits, projects funded through the Community Capacity and Land Stewardship program will restore degraded stream systems, conduct fuels reductions on over 1,000 acres of National Forest, and investigate biomass options for a local community.

The 2011 First Round Community Capacity and Land Stewardship award recipients:

Chumstick Wildfire Stewardship Coalition

Collaborative Land Stewardship: A Consolidated Approach

Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forests, Leavenworth, WA

Columbia Blue Mountain Resource Conservation and Development Council

Umatilla National Forest Landscape Collaboration Capacity Project

Umatilla National Forest, Pendleton, OR

Deschutes Skyline Collaborative

Deschutes Skyline Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Project

Deschutes National Forest, Bend, OR

Clackamas Stewardship Partners

Clackamas Stewardship Partners Coordinator

Mt. Hood National Forest, Portland, OR

Josephine County Stewardship Group

A Landscape Assessment for the Illinois Valley, Oregon

Rogue River - Siskiyou National Forest, Grants Pass, OR

Mary's River Watershed Council

Greasy Creek Watershed Partnership and Project Design

Siuslaw National Forest, Corvallis, OR

Pinchot Partners

Pinchot Partners Community Capacity Building

Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Morton, WA

Skamania County Economic Development Council

Strengthening Collaboration on the Gifford Pinchot National Forest

Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Stevenson, WA

Stream Restoration Alliance of the Middle Rogue

Organizational Capacity Building

Rogue River National Forest, Siskiyou National Forest, Grants Pass, OR

America’s great legacy of pristine wild places has seen improvement each year, thanks to the National Forest Foundation’s (NFF) Wilderness Stewardship Challenge program. This year is no exception – with a suite of 21 wilderness conservation projects recently awarded NFF funding.

In 2004, in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Wilderness Act, the U.S. Forest Service issued a Stewardship Challenge calling for all Wilderness areas in the National Forest System to meet baseline management standards by 2014—the 50th anniversary of the Act. To meet this standard, Wilderness Areas are measured on 10 stewardship elements and must achieve 60 percent of the total available points. In support of this challenge, the NFF has tailored its Wilderness Stewardship Challenge grant program to help meet the challenge.

Since 2004, the program has provided 1:1 matching grants to nonprofit partners for the implementation of on-the-ground conservation projects that directly benefit National Forest Wilderness Areas. This year, additional funding was available specifically for reduced-match grants to organizations with small operating budgets, providing the opportunity to support a greater diversity of projects and groups.

“Since the inception of the challenge, the National Forest Foundation has invested more than $2.5 million in the stewardship of National Forest Wilderness areas,” says Bill Possiel, president of the National Forest Foundation. “Expanding the program to create opportunities for smaller organizations greatly increases the value of our investment by boosting the presence and capacity of those organizations within their communities and contributes to the advancement of the stewardship of designated wilderness areas.”

The U.S. Forest Service is one of four federal agencies charged with management of the National Wilderness Preservation System, with responsibility for 35 million acres of Wilderness areas. As a nonprofit partner of the agency, the NFF is committed to facilitating local involvement and encouraging community participation in forest stewardship to enhance the viability of natural resources while engaging surrounding communities.

The many projects funded this year by the Wilderness Stewardship Challenge program will achieve invasive weed inventory and eradication, utilize volunteer wilderness rangers to inventory and rehabilitate impacted campsites, and reconstruct high-use trails.

The 2011 Wilderness Stewardship Challenge recipients are as follows:

Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness Foundation

AB Wilderness Invasive Plant Inventory and Control

Absaroka Beartooth Wilderness, Columbus, MT

Arizona Wilderness Coalition

Prescott National Forest Wilderness Stewardship

Apache Creek, Castle Creek, Cedar Bench, Granite Mountain, Juniper Mesa, Pine Mountain, Woodchute and Sycamore Wilderness, Prescott, AZ

Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation

Pain in the Grass: Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex Noxious Weed Eradication

Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex Wilderness, Hungry Horse, MT

Friends of Mount Evans & Lost Creek Wilderness

Helping to Maintain the Management to Standard of Mount Evans and Lost Creek Wilderness

Lost Creek and Mt. Evans Wilderness, Denver, CO

Friends of Nevada Wilderness

Wilderness Stewardship Projects on the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest

Alta Toquima, La Madre, Mount Rose, Rainbow Mountain, Ruby Mountains, Santa Rosa/Paradise Peak and Table Mountain Wilderness, Reno, NV

Friends of the Inyo

Inyo National Forest Wilderness Stewardship

John Muir, Inyo Mountains, Boundary Peak, Ansel Adams, Golden Trout and South Sierra Wilderness, Bishop, CA

Mid Klamath Watershed Council

Klamath Wilderness Inventory Project

Siskiyou, Red Buttes, and Trinity Alps Wilderness, Orleans, CA

New Mexico Wilderness Alliance

New Mexico Wilderness Stewardship Challenge: Sandia Mountain and Withington Wilderness Areas

Sandia Mountain and Withington Wilderness, Albuquerque, NM

Partners of Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Wilderness

Joyce Kilmer - Slickrock Wilderness NNIS Survey and Wilderness Ranger Program

Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Wilderness, Robbinsville, NC

Sitka Conservation Society

Wilderness Stewardship on the Tongass National Forest

West Chichagof, South Baranof, Pleasant/Lemusurier/Inian Islands, Stikine-LeConte, Tebenkof Bay and Russell Fjord Wilderness, Sitka, AK

Southeast Alaska Conservation Council

Northern Tongass Wilderness Stewardship Project

Endicott River, Pleasant/Lemesuriur/Inian Islands, and Kootznoowoo Wilderness, Juneau, AK

Southern Appalachian Wilderness Stewards

Wilderness Ranger Program

Citico Creek, Cohutta, Blood Mountain, Raven Cliffs, Mark Trail, Tary Mountain Wilderness, Tellico Plains, TN

Stanislaus Wilderness Volunteers

Carson-Iceberg Wilderness Non-Native Invasive Plant Inventory and Control Project

Carson-Iceberg Wilderness, Hayward, CA

Student Conservation Association

Wilderness Inventory Project 2011

Boundary Peak, Carson-Iceberg, Emigrant, Inyo Mountains, Monarch and San Gabriel Wilderness, Oakland, CA

Superior Watershed Partnership

Non-Native Plant Control and Native Plant Restoration on Two Wilderness Areas

Big Island Lake and Round Island Wilderness, Marquette, MI

Swan Ecosystem Center

Mission Mountain Wilderness Stewardship Partnership

Mission Mountains Wilderness, Condon, MT

Upper Gila Watershed Alliance

Aldo Leopold Wilderness Area Invasive Plant Inventory

Aldo Leopold Wilderness, Gila, NM

Ventana Wilderness Alliance

Building Capacity for Sustained Wilderness Stewardship

Ventana and Silver Peak Wilderness, Santa Cruz, CA

Wallowa Resources

Wallowa County Wilderness Invasive Plant Management and Airshed Monitoring Project

Eagle Cap, Wenaha-Tucannon, and Hells Canyon Wilderness, Enterprise, OR

Wild South

Volunteer Wilderness Program

Sipsey, Cheaha and Dugger Mountain Wilderness, Moulton, AL

WildPlaces

Golden Trout Wilderness Dispersed Recreation Site Inventory/Restoration

Golden Trout Wilderness, Springville, CA

The National Forest Foundation's 17th Annual Sporting Clays Invitational drew more than 300 shooters and guests from across the country committed to raising funds to restore America's 193-million-acre National Forest System. The May 6-7 event was sponsored by Remington Outdoor Foundation, an organization committed to conservation and providing public land access for the millions of Americans who hunt and enjoy the outdoors.

Several dignitaries and celebrities attended the event including television journalist and author Tom Brokaw, who served as guest speaker for the opening reception at the GlenArbor Golf Club in Bedford Hills, N.Y. He shared how his South Dakota boyhood developed his appreciation for America’s national forests and why giving back to this resource is so important.

Attendees also were treated to a shotgun shooting demonstration by Staff Sgt. Josh Richmond and Staff Sgt. Mark Weeks, both with the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit at Fort Benning, Ga.  Staff Sgt. Richmond is the current world champion in men’s double trap. Staff Sgt. Weeks is a four-time member of the World Championship team and former USA Shooting National Shotgun Team coach.

The event also featured an opportunity for 158 shooters to vie for the honor of being top gun at Dover Furnace Shooting Grounds. The Dover Plains, N.Y., course features 20 stations located along a two-mile path that winds through hardwood forests and wetland areas.

The winning team for the event was Ten Mile River Preserve with second place going to Vertrue, LLC, and Verizon Business claiming third. The event’s top gun was Al Gaynor while Stephanie Steinkraus was runner up. Chris Sutter won the Betteridge Rolex Challenge by running a challenging 10-clay station.

Through sponsorships, donations, live and silent auctions, the event generated more than $300,000 in support of the NFF’s mission to engage communities in conserving and improving National Forests and Grasslands. “Over the course of two days, we experienced an amazing level of camaraderie and generosity on behalf of our country’s great public lands,” said NFF President Bill Possiel. “Thanks to our partner, the Remington Outdoor Foundation, as well as dozens of other sponsors and donors, the Sporting Clays Invitational continues to provide a fun yet meaningful way for people to learn more about our National Forests and help perpetuate them for future generations.”

Congratulations to the top teams and individual shooters:

High Gun:  Al Gaynor

Runner Up:  Stephanie Steinkraus

Betteridge Rolex Challenge:  Chris Sutter

First Place Team:  Ten Mile River Preserve

• Wayne Morrill
• Mitch Muncey
• Steve Liberta
• Christian Suter

Second Place Team:  Vertrue LLC.

• George Thomas
• Tony Marino
• Al Gaynor
• Eric Steinkraus

First Place Team:  Verizon Business

• Blair Crump
• Avery Stirratt
• Clark VanNostrand
• Hugh Wiley

GlenArbor Golf Club

Directions to GlenArbor - From Greenwich

Directions to GlenArbor - From North

Directions to GlenArbor - From South

Dover Furnace Shooting Grounds

Directions to Dover Furnace - From South

Directions to Dover Furnace - From North

Glenwood Springs, CO – Dave Neely, district ranger for the Eagle/Holy Cross Ranger District of the White River National Forest and Mary Mitsos, vice president for conservation at the National Forest Foundation (NFF), have come together to announce a new collaborative initiative designed to support large-scale restoration and enhancement efforts of National Forest lands in the Vail and Eagle River valleys.

The initiative is an effort to identify and develop a comprehensive roadmap of forest health projects on and around the White River National Forest. The intent of the initiative is to prioritize and implement projects that restore local forest health in a more integrated fashion. This will be accomplished by bringing nonprofit partners, community members, stakeholders and the Forest Service together over the course of this spring to discuss and collaboratively develop an integrated workplan.

Work on the first project under the initiative is slated to begin this summer, with efforts focused on a section of Homestake Creek in the upper Eagle River Valley. “We will repair trails and bridges, rehabilitate campsites that are affecting conditions along the creek, improve fish habitat, cut hazard trees infested by mountain pine beetle, and plant trees in campgrounds to get a jumpstart on the future forest,” said District Ranger Dave Neely. All of the work will be accomplished with support from partner organizations including the Eagle River Watershed Council, Student Conservation Association, Eagle County Youth Corps, and is generously supported by NFF’s Ski Conservation Fund and Vail Resorts’ Echo program.

 “The Eagle/Holy Cross District faces a wonderful challenge for the Forest Service in that the number and variety of existing partner groups is so great in this area, and the public interest and general support for the Forest is so broad,” said NFF Vice President Mary Mitsos. “The NFF is excited to support a strategy that helps the District coordinate all our various partners and all the vital forest and watershed work there is to be done out there.”

The NFF’s Ski Conservation Fund raises money through voluntary contributions from guests at participating ski resorts throughout the country. Over the last four years, the program has raised over $3.5 million including guest donations and a match by the NFF. These funds are always been invested in on-the-ground projects completed by local nonprofit organizations. Vail Resorts has been a long-standing and significant partner of the program, and to launch this new collaborative initiative, Vail Resorts Echo has committed close to $200,000 from their partnership with NFF and the Ski Conservation Fund to support the restoration work at Homestake Creek.

“Each year, Vail Resorts and NFF are able to raise almost $500,000 for important forest health projects on the White River National Forest. With the new collaborative initiative and planning process, Vail Resorts Echo will be able to help fund critical projects within the comprehensive plan that will have a direct benefit to preserving the iconic settings we call home,” said Beth Ganz, vice-president of public affairs and sustainability at Vail Resorts.

Working with a facilitator hired by NFF, the Forest Service is planning to launch this effort in the next few months. “This District has a long and successful history of working with partners to accomplish important resource work on the forest. We want to build on that success,” said Neely. “In partnership with the National Forest Foundation we’re designing an improved process to build on that success and make a real difference on lands and communities we all care about in the long-term.”

Interested members of the public can find out more about this effort and future collaborative planning opportunities on the Eagle-Holy Cross Ranger District by calling District Ranger Dave Neely at (970) 827-5150. 

Special Alert!!

1 vote = 5 trees!!

Go to www.parkvisitor.com/bagtotree 

Click SHARE and get a code to enter on the website.

HONEST TEA BAG-TO-TREE PROGRAM

In partnership with the National Forest Foundation, the Bag-To-Tree Program seeks to reforest important ecosystems affected by wildfires and disasters. Simply purchase four or more bottles of Honest Tea in participating stores and you’ll receive a reusable shopping bag and a unique code. Your code will enable you to plant a tree in the specific region you choose on www.parkvisitor.com/bagtotree.

 BRINGING NATURE BACK, ONE TREE AT A TIME

Jeopardized habitats. Damaged watersheds. And hundreds of thousands of acres of rich, natural beauty destroyed. It doesn’t always take a wildfire; invasive species and over development have taken their toll on areas that were once healthy ecosystems. But in a region near you, renewal is taking place:

•  Rocky Mountains: Wildfire

•   Help restore habitat and protect important watersheds as we replant areas burned in the 137,000-acre Hayman Fire across the Pike National Forest.

•  West: Wildfire

•   Help renew the forest, watersheds and and habitats destroyed in the 161,000-acre Station Fire that ravaged the Angeles National Forest.

•  Midwest: Prairie Restoration

•   Provide habitat for hundreds of songbirds as they and other species find new homes amid restored stretches of prairie at the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, just outside Chicago.

•  Northeast: Watershed Renewal and Protection

•   Help bring pure water back to over 1 million New Jersey residents by targeted reforesting of native trees on converted agricultural land.

•  Southeast: Reforestation

•   By planting longleaf pine in Florida's Ocala National Forest, you’ll help resurrect one of the great native forests of the South and provide habitat for unique wildlife.

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

1. Donate to Plant Trees Now through the National Forest Foundation!


2. Buy four or more bottles of Honest Tea in participating stores and receive your reusable shopping bag and unique code to vote for your cause.


3. Participate in a sustainability project in areas across the US.

CLICK HERE to Donate Now and Plant Trees!

In Sisters, Oregon, there’s a new beer in town thanks to a creative partnership between Three Creeks Brewing Company and the National Forest Foundation (NFF). Three Creeks will debut the Water of Life Alt Bier, a classic German-style old ale brewed in honor of the NFF’s “Tale of Two Rivers” conservation site supporting Whychus Creek and the Metolius River.

A portion of the proceeds generated from the Water of Life Alt Bier will support the NFF’s local restoration efforts. With a great balance of malt and hops, savoring this smooth and delicate brew will be a great way to give back to the rivers that frame Sisters Country.

The alt bier is made with water straight from the Three Sisters watershed. Made from local water and for local water, the Water of Life brew is all about the waters that make Central Oregon life so amazing.

“The NFF is excited to strengthen its partnership with Three Creeks Brewing through this new ale,” says Kathleen Dowd-Gailey, Pacific Northwest regional director. “We’re grateful to Three Creeks Brewery for this innovative partnership supporting conservation of the Whychus and Metolius Rivers. All funds generated will be invested directly in on-the-ground restoration and stewardship efforts on the Metolius River and Whychus Creek and help to leverage matching funds.”

The debut of this beer will take place on May 19 at the Sisters Movie House’s showing of Green Fire: Aldo Leopold and a Land Ethic for Our Time. This documentary raises awareness about one of the greatest American conservationists of the 20th Century, Aldo Leopold, author of “A Sand County Almanac.”

After a sample, you’ll be returning for more, just as the salmon are returning to our streams.

To pre-order the beer, To pre-order the beer, go to www.nationalforests.org/file/download/761 or contact Wade Underwood at 541-549-1963 or via email at wade@threecreeksbrewing.com.

Beer orders must be placed by April 30.

The National Wild Turkey Federation presented the 2011 Land Stewardship Award to the National Forest Foundation during the NWTF's 35th annual National Convention and Sport Show in Nashville, Tenn.

The convention, sponsored by MidwayUSA, is taking place in Nashville through Feb. 20.

The NWTF has given the Land Stewardship Award each year since 1994 to forestry and utility companies and organizations for excellence in land management, partnerships and NWTF project support. The award recognizes those who have done outstanding work to benefit natural resources through land stewardship and partnerships.

"The National Forest Foundation has become a strong partner of the NWTF on several vital conservation projects throughout the United States," said James Earl Kennamer, Ph.D., NWTF chief conservation officer. "Partnerships with NFF on projects in Pennsylvania, Oregon, Tennessee and Arkansas account for habitat improvement and restoration on more than 2,000 acres of forest, 59 miles of energy rights of way and construction of 30 ponds on our national forests."

The NFF works with the U.S. Forest Service to bring people together to conserve and enhance America's 193 million acres of National Forests and Grasslands. As the nonprofit partner of the U.S. Forest Service, they engage America in community-based and national programs to promote the health and public enjoyment of the National Forest System. Together with partners and communities across the nation, the NFF helps restore forests and watersheds for their many benefits – from clean air and fresh water to wildlife habitat and outdoor adventure.

"With the National Forest Foundation's focus on collaborative conservation, we deeply value the high-impact partnerships we develop with organizations like the National Wild Turkey Federation," said Mary Mitsos, NFF vice president. "NWTF shares our commitment to ensuring our public lands provide great habitat and great outdoor experiences, and we are honored to be recognized by a fellow conservation organization in this way."

The NWTF is a nonprofit conservation organization that works daily to further its mission of conserving the wild turkey and preserving our hunting heritage. Through dynamic partnerships with state, federal and provincial wildlife agencies, the NWTF and its members have helped restore wild turkey populations across the country, spending more than $331 million to conserve 15.9 million acres of habitat for all types of wildlife.

Ride Options

Rider Cost: $100 per rider, includes full support, dinner at Black Butte Ranch, and T-shirt

Family Ride (25 Miles)

• Adult: $50
• Youth 6-17: $25
• Children under 6: Free

Community Dinner Event

Evening dinner & music at Black Butte Ranch

Add to Your Weekend Adventure

Take a Sunday raft trip on the Deschutes with Sun Country Raft Tours!

Thank you to our Sponsors-

Cycle Oregon, ODS, and Bend Broadband.

Lodging

• Black Butte Ranch  (Offering a 10% discount for riders June 16-19; call 1-877-594-3137 and  mention the Ride for Two Rivers.)
• Sisters Best Western Ponderosa Lodge
•  Five Pine Lodge
• Lake Creek Lodge
• Sunriver Resort
• Cascade Vacation Rentals
• Cold Springs Resort
• Hoodoo Camping

A complete list of lodging is available through the Sisters Chamber of Commerce.

Cancellation, Refund, and Rider Substitution Policy

Cancellations made on or before June 3, 2011, are eligible for a $50 refund. No-shows and cancellations after June 3, 2011, are not eligible for a refund, nor are they eligible to receive a ride t-shirt or attend the BBQ. Rider substitutions / registration transfers are not allowed. All cancellation openings will be made available by the ride organizers to the next rider(s) on the waiting list.

Live Auction Items

Alaskan Fishing Experience

• Round-trip float plane, Ketchikan to Waterfall Resort.
• Accommodations for two guests.
• All meals, including wine with dinner.
• 4-person cabin boat with professional guide.
• All-weather gear, rods, reels, tackle, and bait.
• Fish processing: cleaned, vacuum packed, and boxed.

Sporting Clays Retreat for Six at Pawling Mountain Club

Bordered by 1500-acres of conservation lands, Pawling Mountain Club offers ideal woodland and open field game cover, unmarked by roads and traffic, with expansive views to the Catskills. The complete shooting preserve provides the ultimate in accommodations for the most discriminating sportsmen. With this retreat for six, spend an evening at Pawling Mountain Club relaxing with friends and enjoying a gourmet wild game dinner, then retire to the welcoming lodge. The following day, awaken to a full breakfast and spend the morning on the beautiful clays course with an experienced instructor. After a morning on the course, return to the lodge for a gourmet luncheon.  Donor: Pawling Mountain Club

Montana Ranch Getaway

For four years running, when Travel & Leisure magazine ranks the top 25 U.S. destination lodges, Triple Creek Ranch is at the top of the list.  Recognized for its unique environment and stellar service, Triple Creek offers luxury amidst the splendor of Montana’s stunning Bitterroot Range. With this is an all-inclusive three night, four day stay for two people, you will leave the city behind when you relax in the cabin hot tub; enjoy gourmet dining, house wines, and cocktails; and experience on-ranch activities like horseback riding, hiking and tennis. You'll also enjoy two days of guided fly fishing on Montana's premier rivers. Plus, if schedules accommodate, NFF Vice Chairman, accomplished businessman, and avid fisherman Craig Barrett will guide you to his favorite fly fishing haunts.  Donor: Craig & Barbara Barrett, Triple Creek Ranch

Wild Game Dinner with Exotic Animals

This dinner for eight, prepared by chef Will Morton, will be an evening to remember.  Welcome your friends into your home and treat them to a decadent, multi-course meal highlighting artfully prepared wild game, a 1955 Croft, a 1977 Grahm’s Port, and a selection of red wines.  In addition to the exquisite cuisine, the real highlight will be a special guest appearance by Marcella Leone, director of the Zoological Center at Lionshare Farm, a refuge for rare, threatened, and endangered animals.  With a bevvy of exotic animals – perhaps an orangutan, a young kangaroo, a rare monkey, or even a boa – Marcella will ensure that you and your guests will enjoy a truly unique evening.  Note: Available within one hour of Greenwich, CT, week nights only.  Donors:  Marcella Leone, Will Morton, Ted Gramkow, Grant & Kim Gregory

Chinelli Dog Portrait

Trained in classical fine art techniques, Paul Chinelli’s custom graphite canine portraits bring his passion for hunting and fishing together with that of drawing and painting.  Whether your best friend is a bird dog, hunting partner, or family pet, accomplished artist Paul Chinelli will lovingly preserve your dog’s unique personality.  Donor: Paul Chinelli

Remington 1100 Competition Synthetic 12-Gauge Shotgun

This beautiful, custom engraved shotgun will be sure to make a statement.  More than 40 years ago, the Model 1100 forever changed the way American shooters viewed autoloading shotguns.  It was the first autoloader to combine the repeat-shot versatility of early-century models with the sleek, modern lines and handling qualities of revered double barrels.  The new Model 1100™ Competition Synthetic is super-tuned for the competitive scene.  It's been a field-proved favorite ever since.  Its superb balance, handling, durability and soft recoil from the gas operated action are the foundation of the Remington autoloading legacy.  Specifications: 12-gauge, 30” barrel, custom engraved stock.  Donor:  Remington Arms Co.

Ten Mile Turkey Hunt

Just 84 miles from Mid-town Manhattan, Ten Mile River Preserve offers 3,000 acres of upland hunting fields, hardwood ridges, and conifer swamps – the perfect setting for a May turkey hunt.  This trip for two includes overnight accommodations, three meals, and an experienced guide.  Whether you book a trip for the remainder of May 2011 or plan ahead for next spring, you will be treated to a phenomenal experience in a spectacular setting.  Donors: Jim Muncey, Ten Mile River Preserve

Oregon Cascades Escape

Welcome to Sisters, where a thriving arts culture, abundant recreation opportunities, and an idyllic community make this one of the greatest destinations in the Pacific Northwest. When you escape to Sisters, you’ll enjoy two nights of lodging at luxurious Lake Creek Lodge, a round of golf at Black Butte Ranch’s four-star course, a half-day floating down the rapids of the Upper Deschutes River with Sun Country Raft Tours, time with an experienced naturalist, a half-day personalized fly fishing trip, and a relaxing dinner and microbrew at Three Creeks Brewing.  Here in the heart of Oregon’s majestic Cascade Mountains, you’ll have the opportunity to experience a variety of outdoor adventures and you’ll be far from any distractions other than the stunning snowcapped peaks and glowing aspen groves.  Donors:  Lake Creek Lodge, Black Butte Ranch, Three Creeks Brewing, Sun Country Tours

Ultimate Ski Vacation

Unlike any ski vacation you have experienced before, with two Gold Passes in hand, you and a friend will have free reign to ski at virtually any alpine resort in the U.S.  For seven straight days during the 2011-2012 season, you’ll have the opportunity to ski at any combination of National Ski Areas Association resorts.  Whether you choose to seek out the best powder and experience a new mountain each day, or you decide to spend a few days becoming acquainted with a new resort, your Gold Passes give you the flexibility carve out the perfect week.  Plus, you can rest easy with four nights lodging at unrivaled Vail and Beaver Creek, a fabulous end to an amazing day.  Donors: National Ski Areas Association, Vail Resorts

Tom Brokaw Bird Hunt

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to spend time with respected author and journalist Tom Brokaw and enjoy the tranquil, elegant surroundings at Mashomack Preserve Club in Pine Plains, NY…all the while enjoying your favorite pastime.  This November or December, you and a friend can spend a half-day with Tom and his bird dog.  A beautiful 1 ½ hour drive north of Greenwich, CT, this will be a day to remember, and you’ll certainly never forget when you preserve your memories with a mounted brace of birds donated by the world renowned Jonas Brothers Taxidermy Studios.  Donors:  Tom Brokaw; Jonas Brothers Studios

Remington Versa Max 12-Gauge Shotgun

The new standard for reliability in autoloading shotguns – VERSA MAX™ is the new pinnacle of autoloader technology.  It shatters convention and all previous benchmarks for reliability with an action unlike any that have come before it.  Proven in the field and in extreme tests of endurance with thousands of test rounds, it cycles all 12-gauge loads with ultimate consistency, softer recoil and less maintenance than you’ve ever experienced.  Specifications: 12-gauge, 28” barrel, camo with black overmolded grips.  Donor: Remington Arms Co.

Back to Main Sporting Clays Information Page

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER NOW

• Two teams (four shooters each) for Saturday, May 7, events.
• Invitation for team members & guests to Friday, May 6, reception & live auction event at GlenArbor Golf Club.
• Opportunity to include company info and/or promo items in shooter gift bags.
• Individual or company name and logo displayed prominently throughout event.
• Company display space available at event.
• Recognition as a Friends of the Forest Partner in event program, NFF publications, and on NFF Web site.

• One team (four shooters) for Saturday, May 7, events.
• Individual or company name and logo displayed prominently throughout event.
• Invitation for team members & guests to Friday, May 6, reception & live auction event at GlenArbor Golf Club.
• Opportunity to include company info and/or promo items in shooter gift bags.
• Company display space available at event.
• Recognition as a Friends of the Forest Partner in event program, NFF publications, and on NFF Web site.

• One team (four shooters) for Saturday, May 7, event.
• Invitation for team members & guests to Friday, May 6, reception & live auction event at GlenArbor Golf Club.
• Recognition as a Friends of the Forest Partner in event program, NFF publications, and on NFF Web site.

• One team (four shooters) for Saturday, May 7, event.
• Invitation for team members to Friday, May 6, reception & live auction event at GlenArbor Golf Club.
• Recognition in event program and NFF publications.

• One shooter for Saturday, May 7, event. (Individuals without teams will be assigned a team.)

Co-Chairs

• Jeff Paro, NFF Board Member, CEO, InterMedia Outdoors
• Timothy P. Schieffelin, NFF Board Member, Source Capital Group
• Blair Crump, Group President, Worldwide Sales, Verizon Business
• Morgan Gregory, President, GlenArbor Golf Club

• Doug Bailey
• Tiki Barber, NFF Board Member
• David Bechtel
• Terry Betteridge
• Guy Bignell
  
• Tom Brokaw
• Carl Brown
• Steve Buffone
• Tim Carpenter
  
• Phil Conte
• Jace Day
• Lawrence DeVan
• Steve Fretty
• Ted Gramkow
• John Gray
• James Green
• Karen Gregory
• Kim Gregory
• W. Grant Gregory, Sr., National Forest Leadership Council, Former NFF Board Chairman
  
• Spencer Haber
  
• Fridolf Hanson
• John Hendricks, NFF Board Chairman
• Paul Tudor Jones
• Michael Mahaffy
• Jim Moore
• Jim Muncey
• Walt Noonan
• Susan Schieffelin
• Steve Schram
• Chad Weiss, NFF Board Member
• Charlie Williams
  
• Pam Taylor Yates

o Restoration of key watersheds providing Denver’s water supply within the site of the 2002 Hayman Fire on the Pike National Forest.

o Creation of wildlife openings and restoration of oak-woodland habitats for wildlife on Arkansas' Ozark National Forest.

o Streamside restoration along the Metolius River and Whychus Creek in Oregon’s Deschutes National Forest, preparing the rivers for the return of native salmon.

o 1,700 miles of trail-work.

o 29,996 acres of fuel reduction projects.

o 168,743 trees and shrubs planted.

o 4,462 acres of noxious weeds treated.

o 1,103 miles of streams surveyed or restored.

o 20,469 acres of important wildlife habitat restored or maintained.

o 4,701 youths employed or engaged in National Forest restoration projects.

Receive your personalized, limited-edition print today: Order Online.

A limited number of prints signed by the artist are available.

• a one-year membership with the National Forest Foundation;
• subscription to the official magazine of the NFF ~ Your National Forests; and,
• 10 trees will be planted on your behalf to restore America’s National Forests.

NFF 18th Annual Sporting Clays Invitational

Don't delay, click here to register now!

SAVE THE DATE -- Fri. and Sat., May 11-12

Cocktail Reception & Live Auction
Friday, May 11, 2012
GlenArbor Golf Club
Bedford Hills, New York
30 minutes north of Greenwich, CT
Reception begins at 6:00p.m.

Click here for directions.

Sporting Clays Invitational
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Dover Furnace Shooting Grounds
Dover Plains, New York
Just over 1 hour north of Greenwich, CT
Registration begins at 8:00a.m.

Click here for directions.

For more information, email Kassia Randzio or call 406-830-3356.

Sponsorship Opportunities

Live Auction

The Betteridge Rolex Challenge

Title Sponsor: Remington Outdoor Foundation

Event Sponsors

• Craig & Barbara Barrett
• John & Maureen Hendricks
• InterMedia Outdoors/Sportsman Channel
• Paul & Sonia Jones
• Sirius Fund
• Verizon Business

Event Leadership

To view a video record of the project, visit The Land Conservancy of New Jersey's blog.

Event Details:

GlenArbor Golf Club, Friday, May 7, and Pawling Mountain Club, Saturday, May 8

16th Annual Sporting Clays Invitational Leadership

• Blair Crump, Group President, Worldwide Sales, Verizon Business
• Morgan Gregory, President, GlenArbor Golf Club
• Jeff Paro, CEO, InterMedia Outdoors
• Timothy Proctor Schieffelin, Investment Banking, Source Capital Group, Inc.

• Ralph Bailey
• Tiki Barber
• David Bechtel
• Terry Betteridge
• Guy Bignell
• Suzanne W. Branch
• Tom Brokaw
• Carl Brown
• Stephen P. Buffone
• Peter & Siri Burki
• Phil Conte
• Lawrence S. DeVan
• Steve Fretty
• Ted Gramkow
• John Gray
• James Green
• Kim Gregory
• W. Grant Gregory Sr.
• John Hendricks
• Spencer Haber
• Paul Tudor Jones II
• Michael Mahaffy
• Walter P. Noonan
• Will Schenck
• Susan Schieffelin
• Steve Schram
• Chad Weiss
• Pamela Taylor Yates
• Chad Weiss
• Charles R. Williams

• Remington Outdoor Foundation

• Paul & Sonia Jones
• John & Maureen Hendricks
• Craig & Barbara Barrett
• InterMedia Outdoors
• Tiki Ventures
• Verizon Business
• Betteridge Jewelers

DENVER, Colo. – March 12, 2010 – The National Forest Foundation (NFF), Vail Resorts and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) will begin on-the-ground restoration work in the Upper South Platte watershed thanks to the Hayman Restoration Partnership - Working Together for Healthy Forests and Clean Water. Field work made possible by this partnership will begin with debris removal from Horse Creek on the Pike National Forest – South Platte District by representatives with the volunteer-based Coalition for the Upper South Platte (CUSP).

The overall project aims to restore the Trout Creek, West Creek, Manitou, and Fourmile watersheds and increase ecosystem resiliency. The total project area for the partnership spans more than 115,000 acres, with work focused on 45,000 acres of the most severely affected watersheds feeding into the Upper South Platte River, Denver’s main water supply. NFF President Bill Possiel explains, “Under our Treasured Landscapes national restoration campaign, this collaborative endeavor aims to restore forest health and improve water quality in this critical forest ecosystem, which is a source of fresh water for residents of Denver just 70 miles away. Although the restoration needs are tremendous, we can already see the results possible when dedicated organizations and individuals work together to protect and improve our natural resources.”

Dave Rosgen, a leading expert in stream restoration, is working with CUSP to determine the most critical needs to restore the Upper South Platte watershed. Rosgen is recognized worldwide for his expertise in restoring natural stability to streams after a major disturbance. His work on this project signifies the importance of this watershed and how together we can improve water quality for generations to come. Work this year will be multi-faceted and include trail maintenance, trail construction, road decommissioning, invasive species treatment, thinning brush and small trees, tree planting and hazardous woody debris removal.

This three-year project is taking a comprehensive approach to implementation that extends beyond the on-the-ground work to engaging local governments and residents, Vail Resorts employees, conservation organizations and the entire Front Range community. “Our goal with the Hayman Partnership has been to focus our efforts on the highest priority for the future of Colorado – water,” said Rob Katz, CEO and chairman for Vail Resorts. “In addition to pledging funds to catalyze this project, our employees have also committed more than 1,500 volunteer hours to help restore this vital ecosystem, which impacts the water supply for most of Colorado, as well as wildlife and recreation opportunities.”

Announced last September, the Hayman Restoration Partnership is one of several large-scale restoration projects initiated under the NFFs Treasured Landscapes national conservation campaign. The Hayman project was launched with the catalyzing support of the U.S. Forest Service and Vail Resorts, which are providing much of the public and private funding for the estimated $4-million effort. For 20 days in the summer of 2002, the Hayman fire burned a total of 137,760 acres in Colorado’s Pike National Forest. In its wake, the fire destroyed 600 structures, burned forest vegetation and wildlife habitat for threatened species, damaged recreation sites, trails and roads, and resulted in frequent closures of Highway 67.

To this day, the fire’s aftermath continues to severely impact the water supply for more than 75 percent of Colorado residents. Without forest vegetation cover, severe erosion in the badly burned areas of the Upper South Platte River watershed has led to significant sediment deposits in streams and reservoirs, loss of fish and other native species, and impacts to the majority of Denver’s water supply. For more information and additional press materials, visit the Hayman Restoration Partnership web site.

Usually, donors might choose a traditional thank-you gift like a t-shirt or a tote bag, items which cost SCPR money. But, this year, if donors would like to skip the bag or coffee mug, Southern California Public Radio will take that expense and use it to plant trees instead. The trees that public radio members provide through this partnership will restore National Forests damaged by wildfire, insects, disease and drought. They will be planted in one or more of three Southern California locations: the Angeles, San Bernardino and Cleveland National Forests.

The National Forest Foundation will work directly with the U.S. Forest Service to determine the type(s) of native trees appropriate for each planting location. Donors always have the option to forego the thank-you gift and choose to have their entire contribution go toward radio programming and operations. However, in foregoing the thank-you gift this fall, donors can also choose to help alleviate the critical need to replant California’s burned areas.

As with any thank-you gift public radio typically offers, the gift expense usually translates to about 10% of each contribution. Depending on the gift level, in most cases that contribution reserved for forest restoration will pay for several seedlings to be planted. For more information, visit Southern California Public Radio online.

On Saturday, May 9, nearly 200 individuals converged on the Pawling Mountain Club for the team shoot, where the Verizon Business team took first place, followed by the Camp Fire Club team in second. One lucky shooter hit nine of 10 targets in the Betteridge Rolex Challenge event, taking home a very special Rolex watch. The event is an important fundraiser for the NFF and we deeply appreciate the support and participation of all. Thanks also to the donors of our live auction items, which included:

* Gateway Canyons Resort: Two people will enjoy an all-inclusive stay at this remote, western Colorado gem. Both outdoor adventure and pure solitude can be found amidst the red canyons, cottonwood-lined rivers, and wide open spaces. Donated by: John & Maureen Hendricks, Gateway Canyons Resort (www.gatewaycanyons.com)

* Bitterroot Ranch Getaway: Triple Creek Ranch offers luxury with western flair – backed by Montana's rugged Bitterroot Range. An all-inclusive stay for two will include cabin accommodations, gourmet dining, horseback riding, and guided fly fishing. Donated by: Craig & Barbara Barrett, Triple Creek Ranch (www.triplecreekranch.com)

* Turks & Caicos Sporting Club: It's a Caribbean safari experience, when two people take this trip to Ambergris Cay. Not only does the trip include accommodations in luxury oceanfront safari tents, but also gourmet meals, guided bonefishing, snorkeling and a nature tour. Donated by: DPS Sporting Club Development Company, LLC (www.tcsportingclub.com)

* Tiki Barber Football Experience: Take in a NY Giants game from Tiki's own seats, and enjoy a Monday Night Football party hosted by the football and broadcasting star himself. Donated by: Tiki Barber

* Rio Piedra Plantation Quail Hunt: Enjoy the nation's finest quail hunting when Presnell Sporting Collection hosts you and a guest at the Rio Piedra Plantation in Georgia. A 3-night stay with 6 half-day hunts as well as elegant lodge accommodations are included. Donated by: Presnell Sporting Collection (www.presnellsportingcollection.com)

* Remington Premier Shotgun: The Remington Premier Upland Grade Shotgun will become a trusted field companion. This over-under 20-gauge model comes with a 28-inch barrel, hard case and featuring the NFF logo engraved on the high-grade wood stock. Donated by: Remington Arms Co. (www.remington.com)

Silent Auction Donors Classic Upland Supply Co.(www.classicusc.com) ESPN Outdoors Field & Stream Griffin & Howe Hartz Mountain Holland & Holland Massage Studio of Greenwich Peter Corbin Plow & Hearth Rolling Stone magazine Tamarack Preserve Ltd. Tiki Barber Tim & Susan Schieffelin

2009 Sporting Clays Invitational Event Leadership CO-CHAIRS

• Morgan Gregory, President, GlenArbor Golf Club
• Jeff Paro, CEO, InterMedia Outdoors
• Timothy P. Schieffelin, Investment Banking, Source Capital Group, Inc.

• Ralph Bailey
• Tiki Barber
• David Bechtel
• Terry Betteridge
• Guy Bignell
• Tom Brokaw
• Stephen P. Buffone, Esq.
• Peter Corbin
• D. Blair Crump
• Steve Fretty
• Ted Gramkow
• John Gray
• W. Grant Gregory Sr.
• W. Grant Gregory Jr.
• Kim Gregory
• Paul Tudor Jones II
• Michael Mahaffy
• Ted Torbeck
• Walter P. Noonan
• Nina Rumbough
• Susan Schieffelin
• Steve Schram
• Pamela Taylor Yates

EVENT SPONSORS

• Paul & Sonia Jones
• Craig & Barbara Barrett
• John & Maureen Hendricks
• The Gregory Family
• InterMedia Outdoors
• Betteridge Jewelers

The nursery will produce more than 117,000 seedlings to reforest 561 acres of fire-damaged forest on the Plumas National Forest. The trees planted will mitigate up to 50,000 tons of carbon dioxide over their lifetime and restore a watershed important to the town of Quincy, Calif. The resulting reforestation will restore wildlife habitat, watersheds, and enhance forest-based recreation opportunities for thousands of people who visit the Plumas National Forest each year.

The National Forest Foundation is a congressionally chartered, nonprofit partner organization dedicated to supporting the Forest Service in caring for our 193-million-acre National Forest System. Ruby Pipeline’s carbon neutrality goals help support the NFF’s Carbon Capital Fund (CCF), which provides financial support for carbon sequestration demonstration projects on National Forest lands, demonstrating the value of trees and forests as part of a climate change mitigation strategy. Projects supported by the CCF plant trees in naturally deforested areas, sequestering carbon and providing additional benefits to the forests and people. Without the support of companies like Ruby, these projects would not be possible.

As a member of the California Climate Action Registry and founding registrant of The Climate Registry, El Paso is already a pioneer in the area of carbon accounting in the natural gas industry. Ruby’s partnership with the National Forest Foundation is a continuation of El Paso’s involvement in carbon management and climate change policy. According to Jim Cleary, president of El Paso’s Western Pipeline Group, “We are proud to join with the National Forest Foundation in its reforestation projects as part of Ruby’s overall commitment to environmental stewardship and being the “Neighbor to Have.” Ruby will deploy new technologies and best management practices to reduce its carbon footprint on the project, and we are pursuing opportunities like this one with the NFF to help mitigate our remaining carbon emissions,” said Mr. Cleary. “Ruby Pipeline and El Paso’s commitment to promoting reforestation on the Plumas National Forest will benefit the forest, its wildlife, and the American public through this creative partnership. We commend Ruby’s leadership and look forward to our continued partnership in helping care for vital public resources,” said Bill Possiel, president of the National Forest Foundation.

About El Paso Corporation

El Paso Corporation provides natural gas and related energy products in a safe, efficient, dependable manner. The company owns North America's largest interstate natural gas pipeline system and one of North America's largest independent natural gas producers. For more information, visit www.elpaso.com. The company is organized around two core businesses—pipelines and exploration and production. El Paso owns North America’s largest interstate natural gas pipeline system—approximately 42,000 miles—transporting more than a quarter of the natural gas consumed in the country each day. Some of those pipeline assets are owned by El Paso Pipeline Partners, El Paso’s master limited partnership (Learn more at www.eppipelinepartners.com). The E&P operation ranks in the top 10 domestic independent producers, operating in high-quality basins across the United States and in Brazil and Egypt.

Volunteers from MillerCoors, Wildlands Restoration volunteers and Trout Unlimited repaired the riparian area of the West Fork Clear Creek.

More than 60 volunteers from MillerCoors, Wildlands Restoration Volunteers, and Trout Unlimited spent Saturday, August 23 working at the Friends of the Forest Day in West Fork Clear Creek on the Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forest. MillerCoors donated $27,500 to the project – sponsored by the Colorado Division of Wildlife, the National Forest Foundation (NFF), and the U.S. Forest Service.

Reclaiming eroding roads, putting logs and rocks in the creek, planting native willows and grasses, and building buck-and-pole fence, volunteers labored to restore West Fork and its riparian area so the threatened greenback cutthroat trout can be re-introduced. Healing streams helps clean the water that flows from our forest headwaters and renew healthy habitats for aquatic life. “We are thrilled to be working with MillerCoors, the Forest Service and so many other partners to seize this unique opportunity to engage the public in caring for their national forests,” said Mary Mitsos, NFF Vice President of Community Conservation. “Restoring watersheds and protecting water supplies in the forest headwaters is a top priority for us.”

The National Forest Foundation works with partner organizations across the country to sponsor Friends of the Forest Days and connect volunteers with important on the ground conservation projects in their national forests. “When we turn on our faucets, we tap into our forests,” said Rick Cables, Regional Forester for the U.S. Forest Service. “Helping the public see this link, and inspiring them to get involved, is vital for sustained supplies of clean water. National forests are the water towers of the West.” “Every drop of water from this watershed flows through Clear Creek,” said Roger Garcia, Banquet Brand Manager at MillerCoors. “We are honored to help care for the forest as the source of water that people in 20 towns and cities use every day. This project shows how partners can make a real difference.” Ed Self, Executive Director of Wildlands Restoration Volunteers, put the event in context. “Project by project, we are seeing how national forests can work with community groups and volunteers to care for the land and its natural resources. We expect to see such work multiply in the future across many vital watersheds as people see their link to their lands.”

New Tip of the Month from PayItGreen

• 6.6 pounds of paper.
• 171 pounds of greenhouse gases.
• 63 gallons of water.
• 4.5 gallons of gasoline.

• Save 150,939,615 pounds of paper.
• Save 1,811,2755 trees.
• Avoid creating enough wastewater to fill 2,180 Olympic-size swimming pools.
• Avoid filling 6,141 garbage trucks with waste.
• Avoid filling 8,597,328 household garbage bags with waste.
• Avoid producing 3,920,802,916 pounds (1,960,402 tons) of greenhouse gases.

EPA Tips

Home

• Change 5 lights: Replace the conventional bulbs in your 5 most frequently used light fixtures with bulbs that have the ENERGY STAR label and you will help the environment while saving money on energy bills. If every household in the U.S. took this one simple action we would prevent more than 1 trillion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions.


• Look for ENERGY STAR labeled products: When buying new appliances and electronics for your home, help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution with a selection of products in more than 50 categories.


• Heat and cool smartly: Clean air filters regularly and have your heating and cooling equipment tuned annually by a licensed contractor.


• Buy Locally: Purchase locally-made and locally-grown products. By doing so, you not only support your community and eat fresher products, but you also minimize your contribution to the carbon emitted for transporting products.


• Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle: If there is a recycling program in your community, recycle as many materials as your community program collects. Use products in containers that can be recycled. Buy recycled products.


• Use water efficiently: Everyone can save water through simple actions. Turn off the water run while shaving or brushing teeth. Municipal water systems require a lot of energy to purify and distribute water to households, and saving water, especially hot water, can lower greenhouse gas emissions.

Cars and Errands

• Car tips: Go easy on the brakes and gas pedal, avoid hard accelerations, reduce time spent idling and unload unnecessary items in your trunk to reduce weight. Remove your roof rack if you are not using it to improve your fuel economy by as much as 5 percent. Use overdrive and cruise control. Keep up with car maintenance.


• Give your car a break: Use public transportation, carpool or walk or bike whenever possible to avoid using your car. Leaving your car at home just two days a week will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an average of 1,590 pounds per year.


• Combine your trips: When running errands, combine trips. Several short trips taken while your car’s engine is cold can use twice as much fuel and produce twice the amount of greenhouse gas emissions as a longer multipurpose trip covering the same distance when the engine is warm.


• Check your tires: Check your tire pressure regularly. Under-inflation increases tire wear, reduces your fuel economy by up to 3 percent and leads to higher greenhouse gas emissions. Correct tire pressure for your vehicle is listed on the door to the glove compartment or on the driver's-side door.

Spread the Word

• Discuss conservation with kids: The earlier we adapt our behavior the easier it is to make it a way of life. The EPA has a fun Climate Change Kids Site--share it with your kids, nieces, nephews and friends.


• Share your knowledge: Tell family and friends all that you know about energy efficiency and ways that you are trying to reduce your greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution. Tell 5 people and together we can help.

Invest in Conservation

• Carbon Capital Fund: Despite our best efforts to reduce our carbon emissions, in the modern world we do contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. You can offset your specific emissions through a donation to our Carbon Capital Fund. Calculate your carbon footprint and then make a financial contribution to offset your annual emissions.


• Become a Member!: Become a member of the National Forest Foundation to help us carry out conservation projects on National Forests across the country.


• Volunteer!: Roll up your sleeves and volunteer for a work day in your local park or nearby National Forest. Our site displays volunteer activities for our National Forests. Visit our Volunteer tab to learn about volunteer opportunities.

With a Little Help from Our Friends

The National Forest Foundation has developed a Carbon Calculator to help estimate your carbon footprint, or the amount of carbon dioxide that your daily activities release into the atmosphere through the combustion of fossil fuels.

Forest Service and NFF Agreement

Sequestering Carbon

Carbon Capital Fund

Carbon Capital Fund Projects

• The Custer National Forest, straddling Montana and South Dakota, will reforest approximately 500 acres burned in the Kraft Springs Fire with ponderosa pine seedlings to increase forest cover, benefit elk, mule deer, white-tailed deer and goshawk habitat, and improve watershed health.
• The Payette National Forest in Idaho will reforest 1,400 acres with ponderosa pine, Douglas-fir, western larch, and Engelmann spruce in an area heavily damaged by a tornado that touched down new Bear, Idaho in June 2006. Restored forest habitat will benefit a myriad of wildlife and fish species

The Smokejumper program began in 1939 as an experiment in the Pacific Northwest Region, and the first fire jump was made in 1940 on Idaho's Nez Perce National Forest in the Northern Region.

Today, Smokejumpers are a national resource. Jumpers travel all over the country, including Alaska, to provide highly-trained, experienced firefighters and leadership for quick initial attack on wildland fires in remote areas. Fire fighting tools, food and water are dropped by parachute to the firefighters after they land near the fire, making them self-sufficient for the first 48 hours.

Aircraft commonly used in smokejumper operations include turbine engine DC-3s and Twin Otters. For safety, there is always a spotter on board communicating essential information about, the wind, fire activity and terrain to the pilot and the jumpers.

Some options

Ecological awareness