Spring is the season of renewal. After months of dormancy, nature begins to stir again, trees begin to bud, and the growing season quietly announces itself. The snow here in Minnesota is melting and my colleagues in D.C. are eagerly counting down to the official peak bloom of the cherry blossoms.
Here at Forests Plus, spring carries its own kind of momentum. New data, new ideas, and new opportunities are emerging across our community, and this year, the season feels especially full of promise.
A Sharper Picture of America’s Reforestation Opportunity
One of the most exciting developments this spring is the latest update to the Reforestation Hub, a partnership between The Nature Conservancy and American Forests that maps climate-friendly reforestation opportunities across the United States and answers where reforestation can make the biggest impact right now.
There are 164.2 million acres of land in the U.S. suitable for reforestation. That’s an area larger than the entire state of Texas. If reforested, these lands could sequester hundreds of millions of metric tons of CO2 every single year for the next three decades. But the Reforestation Hub isn’t just about the headline number. It’s about helping practitioners, landowners, policymakers, and investors answer the harder question: where do you start?
The latest version sharpens that picture with new data and tools. A few insights and highlights:
- The Southeast is the highest-impact region for reforestation investment. Texas alone holds 17.3 million acres of opportunity. Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Arkansas all crack the top 10 nationally. States like Mississippi, South Carolina, and North Carolina lead in carbon efficiency by sequestering more than 2.5 metric tons of CO2 per acre per year, thanks to fast-growing forests in humid climates.
- Over 138 million acres of opportunity sits on private unprotected land. This is where companies can act directly by working with landowners, integrating reforestation into supply chains, or funding restoration on marginal lands that are no longer productive for agriculture.
- Large private parcels are newly mapped. The Hub now identifies private landholdings with at least 40 acres of reforestation potential, a key layer for companies looking to partner with landowners at scale.
- Post-burn opportunity is now on the map. Over 1.8 million acres in California alone represent severely burned land unlikely to recover naturally. Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Washington add millions more. For companies headquartered in the West, post-wildfire reforestation is a compelling, visible way to connect corporate commitments to a crisis already affecting their communities and operations.
- The supply chain is now visible. New tools pinpoint the locations of native plant nurseries and timber mills, critical for turning a reforestation plan into a project that can actually be executed on the ground.
The Hub is more actionable than ever before. Users can now draw or upload custom boundaries to analyze reforestation potential on a specific property, break down results by congressional district, and pinpoint the locations of native plant nurseries and timber mills nearby, connecting the science of where to plant with the logistics of how to get it done.
So what does this mean for the private sector? For companies and investors looking to make credible, science-backed commitments, the Hub offers something rare: verified, regularly updated data that can anchor a reforestation strategy and hold up to scrutiny.
For example, companies with net-zero targets can use the Hub to move beyond generic carbon offsets and point to specific geographies where their investment is grounded in the best available science. Utility companies can use the riparian buffer and floodplain layers to identify reforestation opportunities that protect watersheds, reduce runoff, and stabilize soils near critical infrastructure. Strategic tree planting in these areas can reduce long-term costs associated with water treatment, erosion, and flood damage, while generating carbon and biodiversity co-benefits that support broader corporate sustainability goals.
Bringing the Data to You
Forests Plus is here to help you connect the dots. We’ll be exploring the Reforestation Hub in a webinar on Thursday, April 9 at 1 p.m with experts from American Forests and the Nature Conservancy. They’ll walk through how the latest data and science can help identify lower-cost, higher-impact places to restore forest cover from riparian buffers and wildlife corridors to federal, tribal, state, and private lands. Register here.
Forests at the Table in San Francisco
This spring, Forests Plus will also bring forests directly into the conversations at San Francisco Climate Week. The Forest Hub will host invite-only roundtables with cross-sectoral leaders shaping climate strategy, influencing capital flows, and building community resilience. We’re excited to connect with our community and bring restoration leaders to the table, putting forests at the forefront of the climate movement where they belong. Register your interest here.
The Season for Renewal
164 million acres is an enormous opportunity. But what the Reforestation Hub ultimately shows us is something that spring has always known: renewal happens when the conditions are right, and when people come together to make it possible.
That’s the work. And this season, we’re just getting started.