Assessment & Conservation Plan 

Restoring Sustainability for White Oak and Upland Oak Communities: An Assessment and Conservation Plan is a science-based report that details the current state of America’s white oak forests and recommends a practical plan of action to avoid their decline.

According to the report, shifts in land management and ecological changes throughout much of the white oak range are resulting in an increase of competing species establishing themselves in white oak forests. These competing species, most notably maples and beech, are shading out white oak trees and preventing them from regenerating. As a result, older white oak trees are not being replaced by younger white oak trees at a pace that will support long-term sustainability.

To restore the long-term sustainability of America’s white oak forests, and maintain the economic, social and environmental benefits they provide, we need active, cross-boundary collaboration, participation and support from industry, resource professionals, policymakers, landowners and others who can align knowledge and resources behind the report’s 10 recommended forest management practices.

Assessment & Conservation Plan

• Restoring Sustainability for White Oak and Upland Oak Communities: An Assessment and Conservation Plan

Summary Documents

• Key Takeaways

• Quick Facts 

Press Release

• White Oak Initiative Releases Critical Action Plan to Reverse Decline of America’s White Oak Forests (November 16, 2021)

Stories & Case Studies

• A Look Back: How the White Oak Initiative Began

• DendriFund: Environment, Economics & Social Equity

• A Tree Farmer’s Perspective: Keeping Oak in the Family

• Independent Stave Company: Reliant on White Oak

• Kentucky: Northern Cumberland Plateau

• Applying Federal Resources: Making Progress in Ohio

• Connecting with Nature: The National Wild Turkey Federation

• White Oak Management: Challenges & Resources

• White Oak in Ohio: A State-Level Look

History

A few years back, we began working with key partners and steering committee members to prepare the foundation for white oak conservation work. With support from the USFS Landscape Scale Restoration Northeastern and Southern Grants which includes participation from 17 state agencies, conservation groups, and key public and private partners, the White Oak Initiative began developing a range-wide Assessment and Conservation Plan.

This plan would help White Oak Initiative members, partners and stakeholders answer the questions:

• What do we need to do?

• Where do we need to focus?

• How are we going to get things done?

It would also bring together leading experts and stakeholders to guide our actions to support upland and white oak forests.

The Assessment and Conservation Plan process kicked off in summer 2019 with technical writing and preparation of a range-wide spatial analysis. After preliminary work was completed, the team worked with regional partners to convene key stakeholder feedback in 2020.

Restoring Sustainability for White Oak and Upland Oak Communities: An Assessment and Conservation Plan was directed by the White Oak Initiative steering committee, and developed by the American Forest Foundation and the University of Kentucky.