The Massachusetts Forestry Association was begun in 1970 as the Massachusetts Land League to encourage landowners to care for their forestland and conserve it for future generations to use and enjoy.

MFA’s mission is to be exemplary stewards of our forest resources, and help others understand, respect, care for, and use this renewable resource.

MFA is the only statewide, non-profit organization with an exclusive focus on the forests and trees of Massachusetts. MFA focuses on positive, constructive ways of improving and ensuring the health, care, and use of the trees, forests and associated resources of the state for generations to come.  MFA seeks to achieve these goals by a sound program of information, advocacy, education, example and caring involvement.

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A waterfall on Singing Brook 
Tree Farm in Hawley

MFA tries to educate its members and the public about ways to better care for woodlands.  MFA encourages all landowners to consider what they want to happen with their land: whether to grow trees, encourage wildlife, protect natural resources, or provide beautiful settings for recreation. MFA encourages landowners to manage and protect their woodlands. MFA advocates on behalf of woodland owners on policies, laws and regulations that may affect their land.

As part of its emphasis on active stewardship, MFA sponsors the Tree Farm Program in Massachusetts, and cosponsors Project Learning Tree, the environmental education program that helps teachers acquaint students in grades K-12 with trees, forests and forest ecology.  MFA also regularly publishes a 16-page magazine, The Woodland Steward, to keep its members up to date on topics in forest management, improving wildlife habitat, forest ecology, pending legislation and policies, and the like.

Each year, MFA puts on workshops, programs and tours to educate landowners and the public about forest-related subjects.  In 2001 MFA will continue its Woods Walks program that shows how landowners around the state are managing their forests.  MFA will also hold workshops on estate planning, forest management and land protection, and will put on the annual Tree Farm Field Day in late summer.

To help forest landowners protect their land for future generations, MFA acts as a land trust and will accept donations of conservation restrictions or even of woodlands outright.  While MFA supports protection of all forests, it favors protection of working forests managed to grow forest products.  To date, MFA has directly protected more than 1,000 acres of forests statewide, and worked with other conservation organizations on the protection of 2,100 more acres.

If you care about Massachusetts's trees or forests, become a member of MFA and support its conservation efforts.