Community-Connected
Forests:
What does a “community-connected forest” look like? We are not totally sure, but we invite you to join us in figuring it out.
Is there a fogbank of anonymity separating those who care for wood producing forests and the people who use the wood? We think there is. Wouldn’t it be better to work at blowing away some of this fogbank by giving people the opportunity to know, care about, and participate in the places their wood comes from? As forest keepers on the other side of the fogbank, we welcome the chance to know and work with the people who use the wood grown in the forests.
We’re making this happen by helping Hyla Woods become “community-connected forests” – solidly linked to “forest-connected communities”. In the same way that community-supported agriculture builds linkages which benefit both growers and food consumers, our community-connected forest approach serves local wood users by offering direct, fun, and ongoing connections to working forests and serves the forests by expanding the circle of people involved with them. Next time a friend asks you for the name of you dentist, barber, or internet provider, why not also tell them the name of the forest you belong to?!
A community-connected forest is sustained by direct links between the forest, the forest keepers, and the people who use what the forest provides.
We suggest five main ways that you may connect with Hyla
Woods: