Dovetail Partners Celebrates the Outcomes of the 9th American Forest Congress

Dovetail Partners Celebrates the Outcomes of the 9th American Forest Congress

• Aug 18, 2025

Dovetail Partners Celebrates the Outcomes of the 9th American Forest Congress

Amplifying forest-based values for communities, economies, and ecosystems

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The 9th American Forest Congress was held from July 15-18, 2025 in Washington, D.C. Dovetail celebrates the leadership and impact of the Congress in recognizing the forest-based values that strengthen communities, economies, and ecosystems. The outcomes of the Congress amplify the effectiveness of community-based actions, a growing bioeconomy, and cross-sector collaboration. 

In advance of the Congress, Dovetail Partners released our priorities to inform the finalizing of the Principles and Resolutions at the event.  We are pleased to see these priorities reflected in the final Principles and Resolutions of the 9th American Forest Congress.  Key outcomes reflected in the work of the Congress include:

• Honoring the fundamental relationship between healthy forests and thriving communities and the need to usher in a new era of forest stewardship with a new paradigm - one that scales the environmental, social, and economic outcomes needed to sustain forest health, reduce risk, expand market opportunity, and build lasting prosperity.

• Recognizing that maintaining and restoring biodiversity and ecological integrity are integral to sustainable forestry. 

• Reflecting on forests as critical elements of our heritage with a critical role in human health, cultural resources, forest products manufacturing, and communities across the country.

• Knowing that forest markets and workforce capacity are essential for retaining and expanding healthy, resilient, and productive forests. Robust markets for products and services provided by forests strengthen communities and meet local needs for housing, energy, consumer goods, and employment.

• Naming the challenge that the U.S. forest sector - like American agriculture - needs a more diverse and robust set of financial mechanisms, policy support, and technical resources to realize its environmental and economic potential.

• Amplifying the call for community-driven and locally-led solutions, cross-sector partnerships, market-based innovations, and multiple knowledge sources.

Specific strategies amplified at the Congress that Dovetail is already actively engaged in include:

• Workforce policies and programs:  Dovetail is engaged in this need through our planning team participation in  the U.S. Forests and Wood Products Inclusion Council. 

• Beneficial fire and community-based models for adapting to fire:  Dovetail is engaged in this solution through our Fire-Adapted Communities work locally and with participation in the national network.

• Growth of the U.S. bioeconomy: Dovetail is engaged in this work through our projects and information sharing on the emerging trends, research needs, and opportunities for a circular bioeconomy, including advancing biochar, mass timber, and bioenergy.

• Community-centered storytelling:  Dovetail advances these opportunities through engagement with the Women’s Forest Congress, Urban Wood Network, 100 Rural Women, and many other partnerships and relationships that amplify lived-experiences, local-knowledge, and community-led collaborative commitments. 

The interactive Congress convened diverse perspectives – including environmental, scientific, economic, landowner, industry, community leaders, policy and changemakers, and governments – to identify opportunities to help our forests and forest communities thrive.   The Congress theme, Healthy Forests, Thriving Communities, underscores the objective of building support for new approaches to keeping forests healthy, resilient, and productive in the face of a changing climate and other stressors, and advancing new markets and economic opportunities to strengthen communities.