Overview
What is the National Community Forestry Center?

In 1997, the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a call for proposals to develop regional centers providing technical services for rural communities. The National Network of Forest Practitioners (NNFP) - whose members share a commitment to rural community development based on sustainable forestry and a conviction that healthy communities and healthy ecosystems are interdependent -  responded.

The NNFP proposed a center to support community-based, participatory research addressing a wide range of economic, environmental, and social concerns among communities with forest land. Their proposal was selected from among hundreds of others, one of only six to receive funds to cover startup and operation for a four-year period.

Beginning operation in 2000, The National Community Forestry Center is actually a decentralized network of four regional centers located in the Pacific Northwest, administered by Forest Community Research of Taylorsville, CA; the Appalachian Region, administered Rural Action of Trimble, OH; the Southwest, administered by Forest Trust of Sante Fe, NM; and the Northern Forest, administered by Yellow Wood Associates, Inc. of St. Albans, VT.

Each center operates according to the advice of a regional advisory council based upon a shared set of principles and operating rules. In effort to exchange learnings and resources across the country, the NNFP, in cooperation with the NCFC national coordinator and a national advisory council, coordinates the work of all four regional centers.

National Community Forestry Center
in Providence coordinates communications among the 4 regional centers.

Ajit Krishnaswamy, National Coordinator
National Community Forestry Center
National Network of Forest Practitioners
305 South Main Street
Providence, RI 02903
800 - 683 9667
401 - 273 6507
401 - 273 6508 F
ajit@nnfp.org
www.nationalcommunityforestrycenter.org

The Pacific West Community Forestry Center
covers northern California, Oregon and Washington.

Jonathan Kusel or Katie Bagby
Forest Community Research
P.O. Box 11
Taylorsville, CA 95983
530 - 284 1022
530 - 284 1023 F
pwcfcinfo@fcresearch.org
www.pwcfc.org

The Southwest Community Forestry Research Center
covers New Mexico, Arizona, southern Colorado, and southern Utah.

Henry Carey
The Forest Trust
P.O. Box 519
Santa Fe, NM 87504-0519
505 - 983 8992
505 - 986 0798 F
800 - 803 0025
forest@theforesttrust.org
www.theforesttrust.org/research.html

The Appalachian Forest Regional Center
reaches from Pennsylvania south to northern Georgia, including the entire Appalachian region.

Colin Donahue
Rural Action
PO Box 157
Trimble, OH 45782
740 - 767 4938
740 - 767 4957 F
colind@ruralaction.org
www.appalachianforest.org

The National Community Forestry Center - Northern Forest Region
covers Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Central and Northeastern New York.

Shanna Ratner or Debra Mason
Yellow Wood Associates, Inc.
228 North Main Street
St. Albans, VT 05478
802 - 524 6141
802 - 524 6643 F
yellowwood@yellowwood.org
www.ncfcnfr.net

National Network of Forest Practitioners
http://www.nnfp.org