Minnesota forests: So what? Now what?

November 4, 2013 by Blandin Foundation Posted in Rural Capacity Building, Vibrant Rural

Are foresters the shy, retiring types?  Definitely not!  At least not at the Oct. 23 “Vital Forests/Vital Communities Redux” event, hosted by Dovetail Partners with support through a Blandin Foundation grant.

Foresters, economic developers, business people, forestland owners, loggers—the gamut of Minnesota’s forest stakeholders joined the conversation to review developments in Minnesota’s forests and forestry over the past five years (since the conclusion of the Foundation’s VF/VC Initiative) and to look toward the future.

Minnesota has more than 16 million acres of forestland and a proud and dynamic forest history.  This event drew 80 leaders to the Cloquet Forestry Center to ask and answer “So what?  Now what?” Check out the report of outcomes from the event and a white paper developed to inform the conversation.