About us

HEARTWOOD is a regional network that protects forests and supports community activism in the eastern United States through education, advocacy, and citizen empowerment. We are people helping people protect the places they love.

Heartwood was founded in 1991, when concerned citizens from several midwestern states each defending their national forest from logging, mining, roads and ruin, met and began to work together to protect the heartland hardwood forest.

Eastern North America was once blanketed with a majestic hardwood forest containing more than 120 species of hardwood trees. Unfortunately, much of this forest has been cleared and what remains is mostly isolated fragments of public land that nonetheless play a critical role in providing habitat for wildlife, purifying the air and water, moderating global climate change, and offering places of beauty and enjoyment. Heartwood is founded on a shared vision of forest restoration and ecological integrity.

Over time, Heartwood has grown to include an 18-state region, including Michigan, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Arkansas, West Virginia, North Carolina and Virginia. From the Ozarks to the Appalachians, the Ohio River basin and the Cumberland Plateau, the Heartwood region encompasses tremendous natural beauty and ecological diversity. We gather twice a year to share skills, stories and songs, please take a look at the range of campaigns we address and visit our list of member groups. Your support of Heartwood supports the work of all these organizations, from our MiniGrants Program to the action alerts we share through our networks.

Heartwood strives to adhere to the principles of inclusiveness and consensus as outlined in the Jemez Principles, and has adopted these Safer Spaces protocols for all of our events.