Exemplary Forestry Investment Fund Purchases First Forestland

New England Forestry Foundation (NEFF) has long known its Exemplary Forestry standards have the ability to pull an immense amount of CO2 out of the atmosphere if implemented at scale across the New England landscape. The question is, how to make that implementation happen in a region where forestland is largely privately owned?

NEFF’s $30 million Climate-Smart Commodities program is certainly a key approach, but it isn’t the only one NEFF has in the works: the Exemplary Forestry Investment Fund (EFIF) is another, and it’s just had its big break.

Less than a mile from Moosehead Lake and tucked along Prong Pond’s shoreline in Greenville, Maine, lies a 3,000-acre forestland called Scammon Ridge Headwaters. This beautiful and habitat-rich spot recently served as the launchpad for the Exemplary Forestry Investment Fund initiative, a partnership between NEFF, Maine Mountain Collaborative (MMC) and Quantified Ventures. The initiative purchased the forestland, its first land parcel, on Jan. 5, 2024.

The view of Scammon Ridge Headwaters from Prong Pond. Photo: Bryan Wentzell, courtesy of Maine Mountain Collaborative

The EFIF is a for-profit and long-term timber investment fund initiative that seeks to deliver financial returns and measurable, real-world environmental results on a large scale. With the Scammon Ridge purchase completed, the EFIF has now taken its first step toward the initiative’s main goal: the purchase and conservation of 100,000 acres of Maine forestland for improved environmental and financial outcomes, through the blending of public, private and philanthropic funding sources.

“I’m delighted we’ve reached this milestone after the considerable research, planning, and collaboration that went into crafting the Exemplary Forestry Investment Fund, which is genuinely unique in the conservation field,” said NEFF Executive Director Bob Perschel. “Now NEFF has two pathways for spreading climate-smart forestry, one that incentivizes existing landowners directly through our USDA Climate-Smart Commodities award, and a second that purchases land through the EFIF. With the Exemplary Forestry Investment Fund, we’ll now focus on judiciously scaling up this innovative program and building momentum, as we believe it has immense potential to demonstrate to a global audience how productive, climate-smart forestry can be accomplished at scale.”

How Does the EFIF Work?

Initially conceived of by NEFF’s Senior Fellow Alec Giffen in collaboration with the members of the Maine Mountains Collaborative, the EFIF is now run and overseen by the separate nonprofit organization Exemplary Forestry Management, which is comprised of investment and forestry professionals, with on-the-ground operations handled by a highly respected forest management company. Adherence to Exemplary Forestry standards is assured through the oversight of a Board of Directors with cross-disciplinary expertise in forestry, conservation, ecosystem markets, and finance. The Scammon Ridge Headwaters property is owned by Scammon Ridge Headwaters LLC—the first fund under the EFIF initiative. Two of the fund’s investors include the Maine Community Foundation and the Elmina B. Sewall Foundation.

The EFIF’s key goals:

• Prove that a long-term investment model that delivers environmental and financial returns is viable in the forestry sector in the U.S.
• Conserve 100,000 acres under Exemplary Forestry management in the largest intact mixed temperate forest in the eastern U.S.
• Reach the landscape’s potential for timber productivity, volume and quality
• Sequester upwards of 30 metric tons of CO2e per acre more than present levels, and produce third-party verified carbon credits that can be sold for additional revenue
• Increase timber stocking to 25 cords per acre, or almost 50 percent more than current levels
• Access new sources of capital by connecting project outcomes to a wider network of stakeholders

Learn more and get involved: efmanagement.org

All land acquired by the EFIF will be managed using NEFF’s climate-smart Exemplary Forestry management standards to improve carbon storage, long-term forest health, wildlife habitat, and sustainable timber value and production—all in partnership with local communities.

The EFIF is particularly well suited to investors with a long-term perspective for at least a component of their portfolio, and who want to see their dollars bring about substantial environmental and climate-change benefits.
“We are proud to have played a role in the development of this blended capital model to enhance the biodiversity, climate, and community outcomes delivered by Maine forestlands,” said Seth Brown, Vice President at Quantified Ventures. “This innovative partnership and fund approach creates a new potential pathway for institutions and individuals to invest in the future of the Maine woods and support the many co-benefits that come from long-term forest health.”

The Scammon Ridge Headwaters property has exceptional conservation value and encompasses several important ecosystems. It spans a high elevation ridge located between Lower Wilson Pond, which is within the Penobscot River watershed, and Prong Pond, which lies within the Kennebec River watershed. The forestland includes nearly two miles of Prong Pond’s shoreline, and the upland ridge portions of the property provide expansive views of Moosehead Lake and the surrounding landscape.

“This effort comes out of the conservation community in Maine,” said Bryan Wentzell, MMC Executive Director. “We are looking to create a new landownership and investment model whose financial goals are aligned with the ecological carrying capacity of the forest. We see this new landowner as a conservation and investment tool to complement existing conservation efforts.”

Significant to this acquisition was the EFIF’s sale of a conservation easement on the land to the Forest Society of Maine, which together with the Friends of Wilson Ponds Area raised the funding for the easement.

Conserving this land will ensure the habitat it provides will remain undeveloped. Additionally, the Scammon Ridge Headwaters easement will ensure that the forest will remain available for year-round recreational activities—it is a popular hunting, fishing and hiking destination—and can continue to be managed for forest products, which bolster the regional economy.

Our Thanks

NEFF, MMC and Quantified Ventures offer their thanks to the Haynes Family, previous owners of Scammon Ridge, who wanted to see it conserved; the Ropes and Gray legal team; the Innovative Finance for National Forests grant program, a program funded and managed in partnership between the US Forest Service and the US Endowment for Forestry and Communities; Natural Resources Conservation Service Conservation Innovation Grant; and the Forest Society of Maine and Friends of Wilson Ponds for successfully leading the fundraising on the Scammon Ridge easement, as well as local residents and camp owners who chipped in.

The land known as Scammon Ridge Headwaters is on the unceded homeland of the Wabanaki People. Please read more about Wabanaki land return at dawnlandreturn.org and Wabanaki sovereignty efforts at wabanakialliance.com