August 29, 2024

We are thrilled to announce the Soil Wealth program and key partners have been awarded $1.9 million from the USDA Forest Service! Over the next three years, the investment will support connecting underserved and small-acreage forest landowners in the North Carolina and Tennessee watershed regions with emerging climate markets.

The Soil Wealth team, with the leadership of John Fenderson (Senior Fellow), will facilitate collaborations with forest landowners to identify revenue streams, remove market barriers, and mitigate market participation risks. The research builds off our current engagements with on-the-ground partners and pilot studies.

We look forward to this work in partnership with the Forest Stewards Guild, University of Tennessee Knoxville, Duke University, Conservation Finance Network, Environmental Policy Innovation Center, US Fish & Wildlife Service, and a capital advisory group (Foodshed Capital, Eco-Capital Advisors, The Lyme Timber Company). Read more about the announcement and check out other grant recipients’ work.