Online Forest Incident Maps

The system, located at SeeSouthernForests.org, highlights risks to these forests such as pest and pathogen outbreaks, active wildfires, potential climate change impacts, and forest conversion to suburban development - the leading cause of southern U.S. forest loss in recent decades. The system also maps other features such as the region's protected areas and forest ownership.

"SeeSouthernForests.org is a first-of-its-kind one-stop shop for map-based information about southern forests," said Craig Hanson, director of WRI's People & Ecosystems Program. "We have pulled together the power of GoogleEarth, Microsoft's Bing Maps, NASA satellite images, ESRI technology, and a wide variety of forest data to raise awareness about the benefits of southern forests and the challenges they face."

The system is the first step in a multiyear WRI project, Southern Forests for the Future, aimed at helping landowners, conservation organizations, and others ensure the ability of these forests to continue providing a range of benefits - called "ecosystem services" - to people.

Stretching from Texas to Virginia and from Kentucky to Florida, the southern US forests are among the world's most biologically diverse temperate forests. Though they comprise just two percent of the planet's forest cover, they underpin hundreds of thousands of jobs and produce more pulp for paper by volume than any single nation - other than the entire United States.

In addition, they supply other ecosystem services, such as watershed protection, recreation, and carbon storage.
The future of these forests mostly rests in the hands of private landowners. Approximately 27 percent of southern forest acreage is held by companies and financial institutions while another 60 percent is owned by individuals and families. But three-quarters of these family forests are owned by people 55 years of age and older. A generational transfer is on the horizon.

"In many ways, the next 20 years will shape the fate of southern forests," said Todd Gartner, manager of Conservation Incentives at the American Forest Foundation. "Surveys indicate that most families want to pass their forests on to the next generation. However, with increasing development pressure, market-based incentives are needed to ensure that private forests remain as forests."

WRI's new online mapping system can help forest landowners in the South see the history of their forests through satellite images and better understand the forces of change affecting their properties. It also showcases examples of successful approaches for owners who want to retain their forests.
"SeeSouthernForests.org will be really helpful when engaging a community and working with local landowners regarding forest conservation and sustainable management," said Tom Bancroft, chief scientist at the Audubon Society. "If a picture is worth a thousand words, satellite images and a good map are worth 10,000."

"We were thrilled that Toyota and WRI committed to launch SeeSouthernForests.org at the Clinton Global Initiative's Annual Meeting last year," said Robert S. Harrison, CEO of the Clinton Global Initiative. "We hope this site will empower more and more people to appreciate southern forests and the benefits they provide to people in the region and beyond."