Forests at Work

The document proposes a 'working forest' model for the southern United States, where public entities acquire land or development rights to generate revenue from sustainable timber, recreation, and ecosystem services. This approach is presented as a more cost-effective alternative to traditional conservation programs, with potential for local management via citizen advisory boards and financing through public bonds or taxes.

• The southern United States has a lower proportion of conserved land per capita and as a percentage of the land base compared to other U.S. regions, as traditional public land acquisition programs have had a limited impact there.
• Working forests are actively managed to produce revenue from multiple sources—including sustainable timber, recreation, hunting fees, and payments for carbon sequestration, water quality, and endangered species habitats—to prevent conversion to uses like residential development.
• Public entities can acquire working forests through fee simple purchases of all property rights or through conservation easements that purchase only development rights. These can be financed via sales taxes or public bonds, with revenues potentially used for stewardship, offsetting acquisition costs, or providing taxpayer dividends.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Forests at Work. https://www.wri.org/research/forests-work

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Forests at Work. n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/forests-work.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Forests at Work |url=https://www.wri.org/research/forests-work |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendforests, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Forests at Work}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/forests-work}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }