Communities of Practice

Community Forests

The Community Forest Training Program is a 3-month virtual workshop series designed to provide land managers with the strategies, skills, and resources needed to create and sustain community forests. This program offers expert-led workshops, case studies, and peer networking to support the creation of lasting community forests that strengthen economies, protect ecosystems, and bring people together.

Program Overview

Community forests are protected forest lands that contribute to healthy, flourishing communities. These lands can be powerful tools for helping to enact local visions and can serve as economic development tools that deliver positive outcomes to the residents, visitors, and businesses located in their service areas, including through recreation, timber, and tourism; environmental benefits such as watershed protection, habitat conservation, and preserved biodiversity; and more.

Participants will learn from experts and peers about acquiring, managing, and improving forest lands to:

1. Drive local economic growth through recreation, tourism, and sustainable timber.
2. Protect watersheds, wildlife, and biodiversity.
3. Strengthen community governance and stewardship.

Program Structure

The Community Forest Training Program will meet monthly over Zoom from June – August 2026.

This cohort invites participants to register from across the Midwest and Midsouth, including Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, and Wisconsin. However, participants from all geographies will be welcome to participate.

Participants must represent a local government entity, land trust or tribal entity.

The following commitments are also required for participation:

1. Active engagement. Each workshop is divided into opening plenaries with a panel of speakers and subject matter experts, followed by breakout groups for peer-to-peer discussion.
2. Sustained attendance throughout the series. If you are unable to attend every session of a track, please have an additional representative from your city register to join the track.