Pillar 02 · Forests & birds
Buy the canopy. Keep the birds.
Also in planning. Also a commitment we intend to keep. We will accumulate parcels — woodlots, ridgelines, bottomlands, anything that still holds a living canopy — and convert them into bird sanctuaries under permanent protection.
Good Nature · Intent locked · No deed yet
Not a timber bank. A forever lock.
Not timber speculation. Not a carbon story that still cuts. Buy → baseline → lock → restore → steward. Parcel by parcel until Good Nature holds a network that outlasts the purchase cycle that would have cleared them.
Parcel scorecard
Every candidate is scored before money moves. Low scores do not get a romantic exception.
- 01
Canopy quality
Mature or maturing native forest; vertical structure birds need; soils intact.
- 02
Connectivity
Corridors beat islands. Prefer parcels that close gaps between protected land.
- 03
Bird value
Nesting, migration stopover, or species of concern. Surveys beat brochures.
- 04
Threat
Real conversion pressure — harvest, subdivision, fragmentation — not theater.
- 05
Stewardship cost
Do not buy land we cannot care for. Endowment mindset before close.
- 06
Lock path
Fee simple plus conservation easement (or equivalent) with a qualified holder.
How a parcel becomes forever.
- 01
Fee simple
Foundation / Good Nature structure owns the land. Title is the first sentence.
- 02
Conservation easement
Qualified land trust holds the permanent restriction: no subdivision, no clear-cut, no incompatible development.
- 03
Baseline documentation
Maps, photos, bird surveys, canopy age — written before we claim what we will keep.
- 04
Management plan
Within twelve months of close: conservation values, goals, activities, appropriate uses, maps.