Forests, Water and People: Drinking water supply and forest lands in the Northeast and Midwest United States

This is a research summary based on forests as critically important to the supply of clean drinking water in the Northeast and Midwest portion of the United States.

This project had two main objectives.  The first was to illustrate the direct geographic connection between forests, water and people - sometimes called the "forest-to-faucet" connection.  The maps and data for this objective display a watershed's ability to produce clean water.  The second objective was to demonstrate the importance of private forests to protecting surface drinking water quality and the potential threats to those forests.  The maps and data for this objective display development pressure on private forests in watersheds important for drinking water.  By looking at these relationships on a landscape scale, priorities for management action can be better determined.