Organization: Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Network (LiKEN)

Website: likenknowledge.org

EAC-KY Partner Contacts: Steve Kruger, Randal Caudill, and Kevin Slovinsky

Bio: LiKEN focuses on building local capacity through local assets, helping communities expand the development their livelihoods sustainably. Their Forest Livelihoods Program supports the stewardship of forest resources and growing those resources in ways that are place-based, equitable, sustainable, and in harmony with how local people use and value their forests.

2020 KFAP Tags:

• Forest Health
• Forest Loss and Fragmentation
• Forest Management
• Funding

Program or Service Spotlight:

• Forest Livelihoods Program

Ways Forward:

• Capacity building THROUGH encouraging and enacting sustainable forestry practices
  
  • LIKEN has an endowment for forestry and community work, and so LiKEN funds technical assistance opportunities for landowners
  • LiKEN works to connects landowners to resources promote relevant  opportunities from partners
  • They also promote the utilization and management of non-timber forest products in addition to traditional forestry avenues, which can be especially valuable to heir’s property owners
• Addressing access THROUGH inclusive opportunities
  
  • LiKEN addresses barriers to participation in active management actions, and prioritizes community assistance
  • LiKEN programs often focus on assisting those who legal or material circumstances hinder participation in forest management opportunities, helping them navigate bureaucracy – this can be especially necessary in situations of heir’s property ownership 

Ongoing Concerns:

• Existing barriers to active management implementation
  
  • Inequal access to existing programs or resources, like age, labor availability, or wealth
  • The lack of clear property records or land survey boundaries in Appalachia makes applied management legally and physically difficult
  • The general lack of robust timber market or timber processing infrastructure in Appalachia
• Social dynamics or socioeconomic realties in Eastern Appalachian Kentucky
  
  • Due to economic circumstances, too few opportunities for forestry education, or even the tight rules in management plans, woodland owner may not want or realizes that they can do sustainable woodland management
  • Woodland owners are concerned about unclear or distant outcomes for the level of investment required, especially when forest management often a lower priority when compared to other life responsibilities (health, education, etc.)
  • The social and economic legacies of population loss in Appalachia

EAC-KY can facilitate:

• Communally addressing concerns over forest managed funding pool and difficulties in grant ecosystem
  
  • Sharing resources and clients among partners
  • Pursuing collective funding and long-term community strategizing