The National Wild Turkey Federation and Blue Forest Conservation signed a memorandum of understanding with the goal of improving the health of America’s National Forest System during the 43rd annual NWTF Convention and Sport Show. This exciting partnership focuses on implementation of an innovative financing tool, the Forest Resilience Bond, which raises private capital to fund forest restoration activities that improve forest health and reduce wildfire risk on public lands. By engaging private investment to cover the upfront costs of restoration, the Forest Resilience Bond increases the pace and scale at which this work can be undertaken.
“The health of our forests is a top priority for the NWTF,” NWTF CEO Becky Humphries said. “A healthy forest provides numerous benefits, including cleaner water for our communities, quality habitat for wildlife and decreased severity of catastrophic wildfires.”
“We look forward to partnering with the NWTF on future Forest Resilience Bond projects that accelerate forest restoration activities that reduce wildfire risk by making funding available upfront, promoting collaboration between non-traditional partners and incorporating the value of ecosystem services provided by healthy forests,” said Zach Knight, Blue Forest Conservation managing partner.
“Keeping pace with the needs and costs of forest restoration is a monumental challenge,” said Kurt Dyroff, NWTF director of business development. “We couldn’t be more excited to partner with Blue Forest Conservation to develop new and innovative solutions.”
About the National Wild Turkey Federation
When the National Wild Turkey Federation was founded in 1973, there were about 1.3 million wild turkeys in North America. After decades of work, that number hit a historic high of almost 7 million turkeys. To succeed, the NWTF stood behind science-based conservation and hunters’ rights. The NWTF Save the Habitat. Save the Hunt. initiative is a charge that mobilizes science, fundraising and devoted volunteers to raise $1.2 billion to conserve and enhance more than 4 million acres of essential wildlife habitat, recruit at least 1.5 million hunters and open access to 500,000 acres for hunting. For more information, visit NWTF.org.
About Blue Forest Conservation
Blue Forest Conservation is a Public Benefit Company with a mission to develop financially sustainable solutions to environmental challenges. Founded in 2015, Blue Forest developed the Forest Resilience Bond to address the need for investment in forest health across the Western U.S. while expanding the market for conservation finance. In 2018 Blue Forest Conservation launched the first Forest Resilience Bond pilot project in Tahoe National Forest, raising $4 million in private capital to finance restoration activities. www.blueforestconservation.com
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