The Alford Forest is a 4,300 acre oak-pine-hickory forest located in Ozark County, South Central, Missouri. Of the total acreage, 3,200 acres is owned and protected by the Ozark Regional Land Trust (ORLT). The remaining 1,100 acres are owned by private individuals and are protected through Conservation Easements held by ORLT. The Alford Forest is located in the Bryant Creek Watershed.
Alford Forest Incorporated (AFI) manages this private reserve using eco-forestry methods oriented toward improving the health of the forest. Methods include an “uneven-aged” “single-tree selection” approach that is patterned after techniques used in the Pioneer Forest. The Pioneer Forest is an exemplary 163,000 acre holding which has been successfully and profitably harvested for over 50 years, while steadily increasing both the health and the value of the forest.
The mission of Alford Forest, Inc. is to:
1) protect, maintain, and enhance the health and integrity of the Alford Forest while practicing ecological forestry on this land;
2) demonstrate and promote sustained, ecologically responsible and profitable production and sale of forest products from Ozark forestlands; and
3) help enable the expansion of good stewardship and sustainable forestry throughout the Ozarks.
The Alford Forest was certified under the American Tree Farm System in March, 2009, and re-certified in October of 2016.