About Northern Forest Center
The Northern Forest Center focuses its giving on sustaining and expanding the forest-based economy and outdoor recreation/tourism across the Northern Forest region (primarily ME, NH, VT). Grants concentrate on practical, place-based projects—forest stewardship and wood products, community revitalization in small towns, wood-heat and energy solutions, and building outdoor trail and recreation infrastructure—often providing program support to intermediary organizations and regional collaborations. The foundation shows a preference for repeat funding to regional implementers and initiatives that link conservation, economic development, and visitor economy growth.
Focus Areas
Sustainable forest economy and stewardship initiatives in the Northern Forest (forest management, wood products)Rural community revitalization tied to forest-based economic development (small-town planning, local enterprise finance)Outdoor recreation and trail development (mountain biking, skiing, multi-use trails)Ecotourism and destination development around public lands (tourism marketing, visitor services)Wood-energy and wood-heat technology/practice promotion
Who They Fund
local communities (community-level projects)
About Northern Forest Center
Northern Forest Center Inc’s grantmaking is anchored by a very large 2025 program-assistance award: $2,140,479 to Sustainable Forest Futures Inc in Concord, NH. That single grant signals the scale of the foundation’s support for organizations working across the Northern Forest region. The funder’s recent grants also show sustained attention to practical, place-based projects tied to forest economies and outdoor recreation, with awards such as $207,550 to Community Concepts Finance Corp in Lewiston, ME for community revitalization applications and $86,383 to Nomad Communications in Norwich, VT for wood heat applications. These grants fit a pattern of supporting regional implementers rather than individuals, using project-specific and program support to advance forest stewardship, wood products, town revitalization, tourism, and trail-related infrastructure. The foundation’s giving also reaches a mix of public, nonprofit, and community-oriented organizations, including town governments, land trusts, and development groups. In the recent record, the largest awards sit alongside many mid-sized grants, suggesting a funder that combines a flagship regional commitment with a steady pipeline of smaller project grants across the Northern Forest.
What Northern Forest Center Funds
Community revitalization appears throughout the recent record. Northern Forest Center Inc gave $207,550 to Community Concepts Finance Corp in Lewiston, ME for community revitalization applications, and later provided $45,000 to University of Maine Cooperative Ext in Bryant Pond, ME for the same area. In wood-related work, the foundation awarded $62,154 to Nomad Communications in Norwich, VT for wood products applications and $38,000 to Town of Millinocket in Millinocket, ME for wood products applications. Outdoor recreation is another recurring area: $37,637 went to Town of Gorham in Gorham, NH for outdoor recreation applications, and $25,000 supported Catamount Trail Association in Burlington, VT for outdoor recreation applications. Tourism and destination development also receive support, including $50,000 to Lakeshore Ventures in Greenville, ME for tourism applications and $45,000 to Friends of Katahdin Woods and Waters in Portland, ME for tourism applications.
How Northern Forest Center Gives
Typical grants cluster around a moderate project-grant range, with a p25 of $10,000, median of $16,092, and p75 of $25,000. The recent list also shows a sharp upper-end outlier in 2025, indicating that the foundation can make very large program-support awards alongside smaller project grants. Recipients appear across multiple years, including Community Concepts Finance Corp, Nomad Communications, Fisher Associates, and Town of Millinocket, which points to repeat funding rather than one-time support only. The foundation gives regionally and does not fund individuals. The grant descriptions consistently use program assistance or application-based project support, suggesting a structured, initiative-driven approach.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$5.2M
Total Assets
$16.5M
Total Revenue
$8.9M
Total Expenses
$8.2M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $10K and $25K, with a median of $16K.
25th Percentile
$10K
Median
$16K
75th Percentile
$25K
Geographic Reach
Regional13 states funded
About 20% of grants go to recipients in ME.
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
Leadership
Robert Riley
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Where Northern Forest Center Funds
Top 2 recipient countries by grant volume for Northern Forest Center.
| Rank | Country | Grants | Total | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United StatesDomestic | 160 | $10M | 98.8% |
| 2 | Canada | 2 |
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