Organization
Pacific Forest Trust
TL;DR
Pacific Forest Trust works with private landowners to keep American forests standing and well managed, and reports more than 270,000 acres conserved since 1993.
Pacific Forest Trust works with private forest owners, not around them, and builds economic reasons for those owners to keep their land forested and to manage it well. Its own description, framed as covering the period since 1993, is that it has created new economic incentives rewarding private forest owners for conserving their lands and practising sustainable forestry. Its four named areas of work are conserving forests, advancing climate solutions, protecting water sources and saving wildlife habitat. Its own reported figures are more than 270,000 acres conserved and more than 105,000 acres under easement. It is accredited by the Land Trust Accreditation Commission. Laurie A. Wayburn, its president, appears in Giants Rising.
Why OGSP Recommends It
The Pacific Forest Trust belongs on the One Good Story Project platform because they turn conservation into a financial incentive for private landowners. Since 1993, they've built a cooperative model that actually rewards people for keeping forests standing and managing them responsibly.
They've conserved over 270,000 acres of woodland and secured more than 105,000 acres under permanent easement. They focus this acreage on four specific targets: saving wildlife habitats, protecting water sources, advancing climate solutions, and conserving the forests themselves.
Their president, Laurie A. Wayburn, appears in Giants Rising. In the film she shows how this accredited land trust can help sustain America's forests for wood, water, wildlife, and people—proving that environmental protection works when it makes clear economic sense.
Related Resources
Ways To Get Involved
Donate, subscribe to updates, and for forest owners, place land under a conservation easement.
Key Takeaways
- Its approach is to pay private landowners to conserve their forests. It does not buy the land outright.
- Its own figures are more than 270,000 acres conserved and more than 105,000 acres under easement.
- Its four named work areas are forests, climate, water and wildlife habitat.
- Its president, Laurie A. Wayburn, appears in Giants Rising, where the film describes her as pioneering new economic models for forest conservation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Pacific Forest Trust do?
It works with private forest owners and communities to keep forests standing and sustainably managed, using conservation easements and market based incentives.
What is a conservation easement?
It is an agreement placed on a piece of land that limits how it can be developed. Pacific Forest Trust reports more than 105,000 acres held under easement.
How much land has Pacific Forest Trust conserved?
Its own site reports more than 270,000 acres conserved.
Who runs Pacific Forest Trust?
Laurie A. Wayburn is its president, and she appears in Giants Rising.