Sustainable Forestry
With nearly three fourths of our region’s land area in woods, forests are especially critical to the well being of our economy, ecosystem and way of life. ASD is active and innovative in the forestry sector, ensuring the advancement of sustainable forestry practices and incentive programs for land stewardship in our region. We are committed to helping primary and secondary woods products businesses thrive as a result of the development of their business models and green product lines.
Green and Regionally Oriented Wood Products (GRO) and Regionally Oriented Wood
Since 2007, the forest product industry in the region has faced hard times as a downturn in the housing market has caused a deep depression in hardwood lumber markets. As a result, it is estimated that approximately 30 percent of the eastern hardwood mill capacity has been lost to attrition.
The GRO Wood Products Program provides business opportunities for primary and secondary forest products companies in the Appalachian regions of Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia.
The program works to find market opportunities in the green building sector and helps wood businesses connect with urban market demand.
Through GRO, our goal is to help keep and create jobs in the woods products sector by:
- Creating strong linkages between supplier and buyers
- Promoting the use of regionally grown hardwoods as a green building material, and
- Providing tools (online marketing, capital, etc.) and education to businesses to make sure they can take advantage of these new markets.
About Us:
Partner Office Locations:
Ohio
Rural Action
(740) 767-4938
P.O. BOX 157 Trimble, OH 45782
www.ruralaction.org
Virginia
Appalachian Sustainable
Development (ASD)
(276) 623-1121
P.O. Box 791 Abingdon, VA
www.asdevelop.org
Kentucky
Mountain Association for
Community and Economic
Development (MACED)
433 Chestnut St. Berea, KY 40403
(859) 986-2373
www.maced.org
Our coalition is supported by investments from the US Endowment for Forestry and Communities and the Ford Foundation’s wealth creation strategy. We welcome partnerships that can support the goal of improving our
GRO wood products sector and building a stronger economy in Central Appalachia.
For more information about the
partnership, contact:
Kevin Rowe at 276-623-1121
or email krowe@asdevelop.org
GRO Services For Businesses
To help wood products businesses and strengthen the GRO value chain, a coalition of working forest groups are offering support to wood products businesses interested in:
- Certification support
- Web design and check ups
- Search engine optimization
- Sales leads
GRO Companion Activities
- Carbon offsets for long lived wood products
- Scanning of government policies that incentivize wood in projects
- Promotional materials highlighting GRO landowners, wood manufacturers, and consumers
- Finance and capital for wood businesses
