The Curtain of Green

Yaak Valley, MT from 5891' - Photo by Alyssa O’Brien

Cutler Coast, Maine - Photo by Alyssa O’Brien

The Curtain of Green includes:

  • Maine — Cashes Ledge in the Gulf of Maine

  • New Hampshire – White Mountains

  • Vermont — Green Mountains

  • New York — Adirondacks

  • Michigan — Upper Peninsula

  • Minnesota — Boundary Waters

  • Montana — Yaak Valley

  • Washington — North Cascades

  • Alaska — Tongass National Forest

From coast to coast — and stretching offshore and overseas — we seek to create a permanently-protected interconnected network of mature and old growth forests.

These forests are the best natural repository for carbon that our nation has to help cool a burning world, absorbing more carbon dioxide with each passing day.

The Curtain of Green includes vast intact ancient forests spanning from the kelp forests at Cashes Ledge in the Gulf of Maine to the majestic Yaak Valley in northwest Montana — and stretching all the way up the coast of British Columbia to the Tongass National Forest in southeast Alaska.

We must end old growth logging once and for all … before it’s too late.

Maps: https://carbon.nasa.gov

Less than 5% of America’s old growth forests remain today.

Discover where the Curtain of Green is located near you.

  • The largest contiguous tract of old growth forest east of the Mississippi is located in northern Maine’s remarkable Big Reed Forest Reserve — a 5,000 acre tract of undisturbed old growth.

    Cashes Ledge is a vast ancient kelp forest in the Gulf of Maine — located 80 miles offshore atop an underwater mountain range. It teems with abundant ocean life including endangered North Atlantic right whales.

  • The White Mountains & The Green Mountains

  • The Adirondacks

    Read Bill McKibben’s article in The New Yorker, “At Least We Can Give Thanks For A Tree” (11/23/23) — where he chronicles his recent visit to the Adirondacks in search of the world’s largest known white pine.

  • In the Allegheny National Forest, the Tionesta Scenic Area contains over 2,000 acres of old growth timber, with significant stands of ancient northern hemlock.

  • The Upper Peninsula

  • The Boundary Waters

  • The Yaak Valley & Kootenai National Forest

  • The North Cascades & Olympic Peninsula

  • The 16.7-million-acre Tongass National Forest is the crown jewel of America’s National Forests, with around 5 million acres old growth remaining.