Dear friends,

I need your help in getting to the Mature and Old Growth Science Summit , which is being held in Washington, D.C. from March 4 – 6. This invitation-only meeting is being hosted by the U.S. Forest Service and the Society of American Foresters and is intended to complement and inform policies aimed at conserving mature and old-growth (MOG) forests on our national forest lands , including the Daniel Boone National Forest.

The summit will bring together policy-makers, scientists, and Forest Service leadership, and result in a report “highlighting themes, regional needs, areas of agreement and/or potential convergence, research gaps, and other outstanding questions.” Especially important will be the breakout sessions to discuss regionally-specific ecology and management of old forests.

Participating in this summit will be a big deal. It will give me an opportunity to raise issues and provide input at a high level and speak to the complex realities facing mature and old-growth forests in the Daniel Boone . The reality is that our mature and old-growth forests are, and will remain, threatened by prevailing Forest Service policies and I am deeply concerned that important issues of ecology and management will be ignored.

But I need your help getting there. I was only invited last week, and the cost for this trip simply isn’t in our budget. Beyond just getting there, lodging in downtown Washington, D.C. is shockingly expensive. We estimate that travel, lodging, and other associated costs will run about $2,500. The additional staff time amounts to about another $1,000 for Kentucky Heartwood. So we’re setting a fundraising goal of $3,500 to make this trip happen. And we don’t have much time to do it.

So, if you can, please make a special donation of any amount to help me get there. I genuinely believe this will give me a unique opportunity to speak up for our forests, and a level of input rarely afforded to Kentucky Heartwood.

For the forest!

Jim

Ps. Any donations we receive over our goal for this trip will go directly to funding our on-staff Attorney!