The Puritan settlers of New England, steeped in the Old Testament biblical worldview, believed it was their God-ordained destiny to transform the dismal American wilderness into an earthly paradise. Seventeenth century Puritan writing is full of the idea of wild country as the environment of evil, and so they cut down trees. And more trees. They severely impacted virgin woodlands in what would later be called US forests. Blanketing roughly a third of the US today, forests hold enormous value. They play a critical role in carbon sequestration, contributing significantly to climate change mitigation. The Reforestation Hub, a partnership of two non-governmental organizations, American Forests and The Nature Conservancy, calls for the afforestation and reforestation of 148 million acres in the US. Forest ecosystems supply clean water and air, absorb planet-warming carbon dioxide, provide habitat for endangered wildlife, and create recreation opportunities that translate into local economic stability. Yet few of these environmentally-sound reasons for protecting US forests have historically appealed to southern US states. Instead, in a quest for economic growth, local governments in southern states have prioritized supporting the commercial logging and wood-pellet biomass industries over preserving forests. Commercial logging leaves communities more vulnerable to hurricanes, flooding, and extreme heat. Around 90% of all timber currently comes from private forests, including tree plantations, which are concentrated in the southeastern US. Outdoor recreation is a proven better economic alternative to industrial logging. Nationwide, outdoor recreation contributed $640 billion to GDP in 2023 compared to forestry and agriculture combined at $274 billion, and the outdoor industry created 500,000 jobs compared to only 90,000 in the forest sector. Additionally, wetland forest ecosystem services — such as water filtration, protection from extreme weather events, food, and pollination — are worth more than $500 billion. Direct and indirect relationships between structural diversity, species diversity, aboveground carbon, below-ground carbon, and total carbon storage exist in southern US forests. US forests and forest-adjacent communities are experiencing new respect due to the need to expand forest carbon storage and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from wildfires. Proposed remedies include: expanding the forest sink via afforestation and reforestation; increasing the carbon density of existing forests via restocking and management of a forest’s age structure, species composition, and health; and, increasing the production and use of carbon-storing forest products. For the past decade, under-resourced communities across the South have borne the negative impacts of the rapid expansion of the biomass wood pellet industry. Studies show that standing forests are worth 15 times more than logged forests. Not only do wood-pellet biomass facilities drive the clear-cutting of forests, they also emit significant levels of pollution, specifically volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and hazardous air pollutants (HAPS), which are known to cause cancer, neurological damage, and respiratory problems. Some policies have explicitly assisted geographies or communities to protect their US forests. For example, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA 2021) and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA 2022) designated specific regions, like the wildland–urban interface and public drinking water source areas, to receive resources for wildfire treatment, forest restoration, and wood-processing facilities. These Acts also allocated funds to underserved communities, supporting climate mitigation and carbon credit market participation. Once-and-future US President Donald J. Trump, though, sees US forests in an entirely different light. In an early March executive action, he ordered his administration to ramp up logging in our public forests, including those managed by the US Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. Failing to “fully exploit” forests for timber would hurt the economy, he figured. Three US Forest Solution Projects Instead of acquiescing to such federal falderal, Dogwood Alliance and New Alpha Community Development Corporation have launched the Justice Conservation Fund. It’s a pioneering, multi-million dollar initiative that invests in community- and tribal-owned forests in areas lacking resources for land protection. Each property purchased through the Justice Conservation Fund will be in the hands of the communities that own them. The Fund has raised over $1 million so far, with a goal of securing $5 million over the next few years. The goal is to invest in forest protection across the South in communities that have experienced negative health, economic, and climate impacts of industrial logging and wood production. Each property will be owned and managed by local environmental justice groups or Native American tribes and turned into community-led hubs of forest preservation, outdoor recreation, and eco-tourism. Dogwood Alliance and New Alpha Community Development Corporation raised over a half a million dollars to support the purchase of properties that served as the catalyst for the Justice Conservation Fund. In 2022, Dogwood and New Alpha helped find the funding for the Pee Dee Indian Tribe, which lost all of its tribal land during colonization, to purchase 77 acres of wetlands adjacent to 16 acres it already owned. The tribe is restoring the wetland and has created an environmental education center on the property. The center focuses on Native American culture and heritage as well as education about the importance of preserving wetlands. Freedom Land, a 305-acre forest along the Pee Dee River in Britton’s Neck, South Carolina, will host an eco-lodge, hiking trails, and outdoor recreation activities such as fishing, boating, and horseback riding. This property is owned and managed by New Alpha Community Development Corporation and will be put into a trust for the descendants of those who were once enslaved on the land. On April 1, the Justice Conservation Fund provided its first grant to what is now called the “Tribal Forest of the Lower Eastern Cherokee Nation of South Carolina.” The purchase of 13.5 acres of forested land in Laurens County complements an adjacent 9.25 acres that the tribe already owned. It will generate tourism revenue and enhance their connection to the land. The tribe will create a two- to three-mile hiking trail around the perimeter with storytelling stations about their history and culture. The trail will also feature replicas of the tribe’s traditional canoes, baskets, tools, housing materials, jewelry, and other cultural items. This project is designed to help the tribe protect their land from industrial logging, as it sits within the wood-pellet biomass company Enviva’s sourcing radius. Reverend Leo Woodberry, executive director of New Alpha Community Development Corporation, explains why the Justice Conservation Fund is focused on protecting forests in low-income, rural communities of color that have been disproportionately impacted by the commercial logging and wood-pellet biomass industries. “There is no justice in the environmental destruction and pollution these industries cause, but there is justice in land conservation, climate protection, and clean air. Our vision is restorative forested justice where communities build local economies that respect and allow nature to thrive for generations young and old.” Resources “Effects of carbon policies on disadvantaged forest communities in the United States.” Alexandra Thompson, David Wear, and James Boyd. Cambridge University Press. November 17, 2025. Justice Conservation Fund. “The Puritan origins of the American wilderness movement.” J. Baird Callicott. National Humanities Center. 2001. “Reforesting America.” Reforestation Hub. “The surprising truth about logging.” Benji Jones. Vox. April 9, 2026. “Wood supply from family forests of the United States: Biophysical, social, and economic factors.” Brett J. Butler and Emma M. Sass. Forest Science. 2023.
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