{"id":19783,"date":"2023-04-13T17:36:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-13T22:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/?p=19783"},"modified":"2023-04-13T13:40:04","modified_gmt":"2023-04-13T18:40:04","slug":"nars-goals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/editorials\/nars-goals\/","title":{"rendered":"NAR’s goal to leave the planet better than how we found it"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the conifer forests of western North America, lodgepole pines dominate much of the 2,500-mile canopy spanning the Rocky Mountains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a harsh environment one mile above sea level, lodgepoles grow seven stories high despite being, on average, just two feet wide. The species has evolved to survive in a climate unlike anywhere else on the continent as they race\u2014victoriously\u2014to the sunlight before neighboring trees can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After hitting its peak, a mature lodgepole goes on to produce thousands of pinecones each year. About half of those are what\u2019s known as serotinous cones. Waterproof and encapsulated in sap, serotinous cones linger safely on branches high above the forest floor for up to 50 years. When wildfires appear\u2014as they always do\u2014heat from the blaze causes these cones to explode, releasing countless seeds that are distributed by wind and gravity to sprout new trees and replace devastated forests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Often caused by nearby lighting strikes, wildfires are a normal, healthy occurrence in ecosystems like this, sustaining inhabiting animals and helping to prevent catastrophic fire events that can inflict permanent damage on a forest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As a result of climate change and human activity, however, forest fires have become progressively more frequent and destructive. The National Interagency Fire Center, an entity of the U.S. federal government, recently reported a 17% increase in U.S. wildfires between 2019 and 2021. Overall, the country is experiencing 223% more forest fires than we did in 1983\u2014less than four decades ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The National Forest Foundation, chartered by Congress to enhance the American wilderness, is responding in part through a campaign to plant 50 million trees on national lands throughout the country. Their efforts, as the NFF describes, are intended to \u201crestore tens of thousands of acres of habitat and protect watersheds that provide life\u2019s most sustaining resource.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back in 2019, Vince Malta, then President of the National Association of Realtors\u00ae<\/sup>, tasked an NAR Presidential Advisory Group to explore how the world\u2019s largest trade association could better engage its members to promote sustainability and environmentally conscious development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a column published here back in the last winter<\/a>, I explained how NAR offers grant resources to state and local Realtor\u00ae<\/sup> associations working to make their communities more resilient in the face of increasing wildfire and flooding events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

With this, we\u2019re hoping to encourage our partners in every U.S. zip code to develop new and unique strategies that foster sustainability and combat some of the most damaging impacts of climate change<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Rogue Valley Association of Realtors\u00ae<\/sup>, representing an area of Oregon that is all too familiar with wildfire destruction, used a Consumer Advocacy grant from NAR to engage the National Fire Protection Association on a two-day training and certification program for local home inspectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there is more to be done. And we\u2019re fortunate that our 2022 President, Leslie Rouda Smith, has brought sustainability to the forefront during her year atop NAR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most recently, NAR was thrilled to announce a partnership with the NFF<\/a> that will result in 1.575 million trees being planted across the United States. In spearheading this initiative<\/a>, Leslie is working to leverage the expanse of our membership by ensuring that\u2014through a guaranteed donation from NAR\u2014at least one tree for each current Realtor\u00ae<\/sup> will be planted in the United States by the end of 2025<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cumulatively, these trees can reduce 750,000 metric tons of carbon from the atmosphere, the equivalent of about 145,000 homes\u2019 electricity use for one year. That\u2019s half the number of households in the densely populated city of Washington, D.C. And the benefits extend so much further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But despite our members\u2019 willingness to engage on this initiative and other community-service undertakings like it<\/a>, we recognize the limit of our expertise when it comes to tree planting and forest restoration. That\u2019s why it\u2019s so critical to have the NFF committed to working alongside us for at least the next three years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Experts at the NFF and U.S. Forest Service will make all determinations regarding when and where trees will be planted based on needs in areas affected by wildfires, drought, and other similar disturbances. NFF only plants native, ecologically appropriate trees in areas that need the most help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. Forest Service has estimated that every dollar spent on planting and caring for trees yields benefits two- to five-times that investment.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back in 1997, New York City purchased thousands of acres of forested watershed in the state\u2019s upstate region. Since then, the $1.5 billion project has helped to preserve the drainage basin that supplies New York City\u2019s drinking water. In comparison, a filtration plant comprehensive enough to clean the city\u2019s water carried a price tag above $6 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, the eight million residents of the country\u2019s most populated city enjoy some of the cleanest, best tasting drinking water in the world. Maybe that really is the secret to their bagels and their pizza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whatever the case, NAR is glad to be taking a small step in the effort to leave our planet better than the way we found it. But this initiative is about more than trees.<\/strong> It\u2019s a commitment to restoring the U.S. public lands that provide so much to all of us\u2014clean drinking water, fresh air, enhanced stormwater mitigation, and a more promising future for our children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NAR\u2019s Code of Ethics emphasizes this key point: \u201cUnder All is the Land.\u201d Nothing is more important to our profession\u2014or to our world\u2014than this land. And it\u2019s on all of us to be the best possible stewards of it<\/strong>.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bob Goldberg is NAR\u2019s Chief Executive Officer. REALTOR\u00ae only means member of the National Association of REALTORS\u00ae. Learn more about NAR\u2019s trademark rules in the <\/em>Membership Marks Manuals<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NAR’s Code of Ethics emphasizes that “Under All is the Land,” and being good stewards of this land is now critical.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":340926,"featured_media":19791,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[254],"tags":[372,263,1234],"class_list":["post-19783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorials","tag-code-of-ethics-2","tag-nar","tag-real-estate-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/09\/forest-preservation.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/340926"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19783"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19783\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20668,"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19783\/revisions\/20668"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}