About
IDAHO FOREST OWNERS ASSOCIATION
EDUCATION FOUNDATION
Our Mission
IFOA-EF educates the general public, forest landowners, and forestry professionals about the importance of Idaho's forest lands by promoting sound forest management's environmental, economic, and social benefits.
We think about how we care for forest land and how it cares for us. We reflect on the recreational use of our beautiful forests, lakes, rivers, hiking trails, and camping areas in our forest parks and private forest lands. We appreciate and strive to understand each tree that creates the forest. All of the trees are important to us. This includes the new seedlings planted each year for forest health and potential harvest years from now, the mature trees that need our protection from fire, beetles, or water resource issues, and the old-grown stands protected for scientific research and enjoyment.
When IFOA-EF thinks about the forest resources of Idaho, we think about our forest's broad environmental, economic, and social uses and how we can sustain those uses into the future. When IFOA-EF looks at the forest lands of Idaho, we think about our involvement with these landscapes. Many of us have worked in natural resource management as a career; others are landowners who learned to care for forests we bought or inherited.
Our Story
Becoming IFOA-EF
Our parent organization, the Idaho Forest Owners Association (IFOA), was looking for a way to further one of their many policy objectives, to "educate the public and forest landowners about the economic and environmental benefits of sound forest management."
IFOA-EF was born out of a need to financially support programs that educate private forest landowners and the people of Idaho that live, work, and play in Idaho forests. We also want to inspire future generations to consider working in forest management through programs that expose children and young adults to our forests and forest industries.
We are a separate, non-profit, charitable
donation entity that provides monetary support for programs that teach the value of our forests and how to sustain them. Our funds come through donations from individuals, businesses, and other organizations. The Board of Directors is comprised of individuals who volunteer their time and money because they believe in IFOA-EF mission.