Northern Forest Center

09/03/2026

Thank you to all our friends and partners who joined us to celebrate our groundbreaking event in Greenville, Maine of our new 24-unit middle-market housing development!

We were joined by project partners and supporters including the Moosehead Lake Region Economic Development Corp, Weyerhaeuser, Town of Greenville, Maine, Sargent, and TMBR among others.

Read more about the event in a feature from the Piscataquis Observer: https://observer-me.com/2026/08/28/featured/northern-forest-center-breaks-ground-on-greenville-housing-project/

09/02/2026

💻 Join us and our partners at Alliance for Green Heat for a discussion on establishing and operating firewood banks in the Northern Forest. We will be joined by firewood bank leaders from across the region to discuss how their organizations have evolved, the partnerships they have built, and what other communities can learn from their experiences.
🗓️ September 10th 12:00-1:30 PM ET
✏️ Register now!

Firewood banks have become an important part of many Northern Forest communities, bringing together volunteers, local organizations, and forest resources to help neighbors heat their homes. The Northern Forest Center and Alliance for Green Heat are bringing together firewood bank leaders from across...

08/31/2026

💭 In the Center's most recent "What We're Thinking" piece, Vice President Joe Short shares that the Center remains concerned about the recission of the "Roadless Rule" but perceives this administration's dismantling of the U.S. Forest Service to be an even bigger threat to the long-term health of federal forest lands.

While we remain concerned about the recission of the "Roadless Rule," we perceive this administration’s systematic dismantling of the U.S. Forest Service to be an even bigger threat to the long-term health of federal forest lands.

08/28/2026

💰 The USDA Forest Service has opened applications for its Community Forest and Open Space Conservation Program.
⌛ Deadline to apply: October 13

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08/27/2026

📰 The Center's partnership with the Bethel Select Board on a $1 million application to the Northern Border Regional Commission was recently featured in The Bethel Citizen. The application seeks funds to support the expansion of a sewer line on Broad Street as development of up to 35 new homes takes shape.
https://bit.ly/4y0XYDd

08/26/2026

🌳🌲Last week, the Center convened a group of foresters from Maine for two days of peer-to-peer learning and sharing on the Dartmouth Second College Grant and Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge in northern New Hampshire. This is the third group field trip since last summer regarding best practices in forest management for climate resilience, wood products, and wildlife habitat. Previous field trips have taken the group to the Appalachian Mountain Club's Maine Woods property and Huber managed lands north of Greenville.

08/21/2026

💰 The Northeastern Vermont Development Association has opened applications for its professional assistance cost-share program made possible through the USDA Small Business Cost Share Program. Businesses must have fewer than 50 employees and a gross profit under $1M to be eligible.

NVDA provides professional assistance to businesses throughout the Northeast Kingdom to preserve and create jobs in our region. Funds are available for eligible businesses and nonprofits to support the cost of outside professional services to assist with:

08/20/2026

08/18/2026

As part of the 10-year anniversary celebration of Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, the Center hosted a small group discussion of economic development and investment activities at our commercial space on Penobscot Ave in Millinocket, then joined a downtown walking tour with stops at the Katahdin Gear Library and Moose Prints Gallery and Gifts.

Participants included representatives from:
Friends of Katahdin Woods & Waters
Maine Community Foundation
National Park Service
RK Mellon Foundation
Elliotsville Foundation, Inc.
Maine Development Foundation
Katahdin Collaborative
Katahdin Chamber of Commerce

08/17/2026

🥳 The Center is pleased to announce that we have been awarded $300,000 from the U.S. Forest Service Wood Innovations program to help complete predevelopment work for a new mass timber neighborhood in each of the four Northern Forest states. Potential locations include Bethel or Millinocket, ME; Gorham or Berlin, NH; St. Johnsbury, VT; and Elizabethtown, Indian Lake, and Saranac Lake, NY.

The Northern Forest Center is paving the way for the construction of approximately 175 single-family homes and duplexes to be built in four new mass timber neighborhoods across Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York through a $300,000 wood innovations grant awarded by the U.S. Forest Service.