WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 10, 2021)—The American Forest Foundation (AFF), a national conservation organization, that works to deliver meaningful conservation impact through the empowerment of family forest owners, today applauds Representatives Pingree (ME-D) and Stefanik (NY-R) on the introduction of the Rural Forests Markets Act. American Forest Foundation (AFF) President and CEO, Tom Martin said: “Across the U.S. families and individuals own the largest portion – 36% – of U.S forests.  What’s more these owners care about their forests and want to do right by their land. But most run into roadblocks, namely cost, when it comes to being able to improve forest health. Carbon markets are an effective and needed conservation finance tool that can help. They provide a voluntary option for action for landowners as well as a new income stream from their forest that can be put back into the land.  But right now, less than 1% of the land enrolled as existing forest carbon projects is small forest holdings. This is due to the high upfront costs to the landowner. While there are new credible private sector programs specifically designed for small forest landowners, such as AFF and The Nature Conservancy’s Family Forest Carbon Program, these programs have not been able to scale across the country without upfront capital.  Representative Pingree and Stefanik’s new bipartisan bill, the Rural Forests Markets Act, would help secure this needed private investment. The bill would specifically provide loan or bond guarantees, helping to unlock private capital to finance these programs, allowing more small holders to be able to generate revenue for conservation, supplying the market with carbon credits and addressing climate change.  We applaud Representatives Pingree and Stefanik for their leadership in pushing for solutions that both support landowners and help the planet.” The Rural Forests Markets Act has a companion bill in the Senate, introduced by Senators Stabenow and Braun. Contact: Elizabeth Greener; (202) 253-1096; egreener@forestfoundation.org

 About the American Forest Foundation The American Forest Foundation (AFF), a forest conservation organization, works exclusively to empower family forest owners to make a meaningful conservation impact around wildlife habitat, clean water, carbon sequestration and storage and sustainable wood supplies. We work across a broad coalition of conservation partners, corporations, and policymakers to empower family forest landowners and make sure everybody understands, supports and values the work of these landowners. AFF's signature program, the American Tree Farm System® is the country's largest sustainable woodland program with a network of more than 70,000 family forest owners managing nearly 19 million acres of forestland. Learn more: www.forestfoundation.org