Welcome to the National Forest Foundation blog. Explore the various articles to learn more about our forests and places to play.
In Southern Illinois, visitors the Shawnee National Forest can explore an area unlike any other. The Garden of the Gods Recreation Area features rock formations and cliffs made out of sandstone over millions of years. Today, the unique structures are embedded within a lush forest and scenic landscape.
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Situated just 12 miles from downtown Juneau, Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center is a very accessible point to view the massive glacier. Overlooking the Mendenhall Valley, the visitor center was built in 1962 and was the first in the National Forest System.
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Celebrate National Wildflower Week by learning a few of the unique and beautiful wildflowers you might see on a National Forest near you.
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Are you ready for your next adventure on your National Forests? Consider learning about caves and caving opportunities.
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Camping at a National Forest does not need to be overwhelming or scary. Just follow some basic safety advice and you can avoid danger and enjoy your trip.
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Guest Author Tara Schatz recollects a memorable weekend camping at the Grout Pond Recreation Area on Vermont's Green Mountain National Forest.
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Yes, you can cook pizza on a campfire. And it’s delicious and easy. Check out step by step instructions for this tasty dinner item.
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In Southern Illinois, visitors the Shawnee National Forest can explore an area unlike any other. The Garden of the Gods Recreation Area features rock formations and cliffs made out of sandstone over millions of years. Today, the unique structures are embedded within a lush forest and scenic landscape.
Read more
Situated just 12 miles from downtown Juneau, Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center is a very accessible point to view the massive glacier. Overlooking the Mendenhall Valley, the visitor center was built in 1962 and was the first in the National Forest System.
Read more
Trails are part of the human experience and history in New Mexico. Some trails have a rich history, like the ancient trade route the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro that connected Mexico City to villages around Santa Fe. The Carson National Forest encompasses a landscape etched by at least a thousand years of permanent human settlements, and every trail is part of that history and has a story. We can still hike on trails radiating out from thousand-year-old Taos Pueblo, Picuris Pueblo and Puebloan ruins.
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Visit these National Forests for beautiful and bright fall foliage.
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As most of us know, the realities of the pandemic have presented difficult challenges for all aspects of our normal lives. The reforestation projects we support at the National Forest Foundation (NFF) are no exception.
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Forests play a critical part to keep our environment healthy. But our forests need us more than ever – more than 1 million acres of National Forests are in need of reforestation. To bring awareness to this incredible need and the NFF’s 50 Million for our Forests campaign, we are excited to share a fact about reforestation every day of April to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day.
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Each year, we work with the U.S. Forest Service to find the most critical tree-planting projects on our National Forests. Thanks to NFF donors and partners, we have committed to dozens of exciting projects for 2020. Our efforts will span the country – from native species expansion on Georgia’s Chattahooche-Oconee National Forest, to disease restoration on Alaska’s Tongass National Forest – and help restore critical forest cover and wildlife habitat. Below are just a handful of the projects we have planned for 2020, and each takes us a small step closer to our 50 million tree planting goal.
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Trails are part of the human experience and history in New Mexico. Some trails have a rich history, like the ancient trade route the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro that connected Mexico City to villages around Santa Fe. The Carson National Forest encompasses a landscape etched by at least a thousand years of permanent human settlements, and every trail is part of that history and has a story. We can still hike on trails radiating out from thousand-year-old Taos Pueblo, Picuris Pueblo and Puebloan ruins.
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On the Oregon Coast, about twenty minutes inland from the Pacific Ocean, is a trail that could turn almost any indoor kid into an all-caps HIKER. Drift Creek Falls, located in the Siuslaw National Forest (ancestral lands of the Siletz, Tillamook, Salmon River and possibly other tribes), is a three-mile out-and-back trail. Through mossy, lichen-covered, first and second growth forest, it culminates at a 100-foot waterfall in a stunning, basalt gorge.
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One thing that quickly became clear to me as we hiked is that each one of us feels a deep connection to the outdoors. It was in our words, our actions, our stories. As Latinx people, that strong relationship with the outdoors comes directly from our ancestors. We are descendants of fishermen, hunters, farmers, ranchers, lovers of wildlife and the land, true environmentalists.
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With the Forest Service and nine other outstanding stewardship organizations, the NFF launched the Find Your Fourteener campaign in 2017 to harness our collective expertise to help ensure sustainable access to Fourteeners. The Find Your Fourteener campaign goal is to increase the pace and scale of improvements to sustainable recreation opportunities on Colorado’s Fourteeners. Read on for what’s on our Fourteeners stewardship bucket list in 2019!
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Traveling through Big Santa Anita Canyon is like stepping back in time to the “Great Hiking Era.” As you walk along the paths trees and bushes give way to historic camps and cabins built from the 1890s to 1930s to ensure that the residents of the growing city would have a place to find peace in nature.
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From surfing to biking to volunteering, there are lots of ways to enjoy the great outdoors in national forests in Wyoming and some of them may surprise you.
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Are you planning that once-in-a-lifetime trip to Alaska? We’ve got the insider scoop on the best places to experience the wilderness of Alaska. Our largest National Forest in the country, the Tongass, includes more than 100 cabins available to rent. At 17 million acres, you’ll truly feel secluded. Our local experts at the U.S. Forest Service in Alaska gave us their favorite and top recommendations for cabins on the Tongass.
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The North Central Washington Forest Health Collaborative (the Collaborative) brings together stakeholders in the Upper Columbia region ranging from government agencies to local tribes, non-profit conservation groups and timber industry; all with the purpose of collaborating to improve forest resiliency. The Collaborative operates on consensus, and while the process can be slow, when agreement is achieved the results are tremendous.
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The Tongass Transition Collaborative, supported by a Community Capacity and Land Stewardship grant from the National Forest Foundation, was created to ensure stakeholders are involved as the Tongass implements the Transition. Members include native corporations, local and national nonprofit organizations, and local businesses.
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2019 marks the second year of the Conservation Connect Fellowship Program. This year we have 10 Fellows from Northern Arizona University; Portland State University; University of California, Merced; University of Georgia, University of Michigan, and the University of Montana.
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Learn more about the recent work of the 5B Restoration Coalition in Idaho.
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We are grateful for George’s lifetime of service to our forests, for his generosity to the NFF, and for the example he sets.
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Our tree planting partner, Atlas Services LLC, recently shared a bookmark printed in 1937 that they acquired.
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Learn more about the National Museum of Forest Service History.
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