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Land Conservation

New England’s private forestlands provide vital ecosystem services like clean water and wildlife habitat, as well as benefits like sustainable wood products. NEFF has developed a tried-and-true suite of conservation methods to protect these forests at a time when the region’s forest cover is declining.

Approximately 56 percent of all U.S. forestland is in private hands, and family forest owners in turn control 62 percent of that land. This means family forest owners’ collective decisions will have an immense impact on the future landscape. Other large-scale private landowners also have a part to play in protecting our forests, and NEFF’s land conservation strategy accounts for both groups.

In total, NEFF has conserved more than 1.2 million acres of forestland. Learn more by reading about our conservation achievements.

Conservation Opportunities for Family Land Owners

NEFF has worked since 1944 to protect the region’s forests, and one of the main ways we achieve this goal is working directly with conservation-minded family landowners who want to ensure permanent protection for their woods. We help landowners meet their conservation goals through the use of conservation easements, conservation restrictions, planned giving, and other innovative land-protection methods.

To learn more about conserving your land, visit the following webpages or contact Conservation Project Manager Sophie Anthony at santhony@newenglandforestry.org or 978-952-6856 x122.

Leave a Legacy | How to Conserve Your Land | Easement Stewardship | Conservation FAQs

Large Parcel Land Conservation

In addition to our work with family landowners, NEFF pursues select conservation projects with a focus on large parcels of unfragmented forests that can support a viable wood products sector and abundant wildlife, offer recreational opportunities, and help mitigate the climate crisis through climate-smart management. They are mostly located in the region’s northern forests, and include four properties NEFF acquired from 2018-2020 through our Downeast Woods and Wildlife project.

Purchasing larger forestlands allows NEFF to both address New England’s ongoing loss of forest cover and show just what Exemplary Forestry—our expert approach to sustainable forest management—can do when practiced at scale.