A Decade of Development & The Next Chapter
For the first time in nearly seven years, the Mon Forest Towns Partnership has adopted a new mission and vision, the foundation on which the organization will build its next strategic plan. It’s a quieter milestone than a ribbon-cutting, but it’s the one that will shape every trail, grant, and gateway town partnership that comes next.
Nearly a decade ago, stakeholders from across the Monongahela National Forest region gathered for a summit at Blackwater Falls State Park to outline a collaborative model for shared action. With support from the US Forest Service, USDA Rural Development, West Virginia University Extension Service, and Woodlands Development, that first meeting produced a simple idea: the gateway communities surrounding the forest could accomplish more together than any one town could alone.
That idea crystallized into a new organization, the Mon Forest Towns Partnership. In ten short years, the Partnership became a national model for community-based economic development, inspiring the creation of new groups from the New River Gorge Towns just next door to the Joshua Tree Gateway Communities Alliance across the country. The Partnership also looked outward, connecting with other organizations that are building models for outdoor recreation collaboration, from Pennsylvania’s PA Wilds to Ohio’s Outdoor Recreation Council of Appalachia (ORCA).
As the partnership advanced the seven strategic developmental goals identified by its communities, the organization continued to evolve: welcoming two new gateway communities, becoming a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, bringing on new staff and AmeriCorps members, and administering transformative grants such as the Appalachian Regional Commission’s POWER award. Beyond refining its structure and operations, the Partnership has helped steward measurable, on-the-ground impact — including downtown trail development in all 12 towns, one of the largest gravel and bikepacking route networks in the country, and new small-business services that are accelerating the growth of West Virginia’s outdoor economy.
None of that happened by accident. A trail groundbreaking gets the applause, the photo op, and the ribbon, but it doesn’t decide itself. Somewhere upstream, a mission and vision helped shape where that trail would go, who would be involved, why it mattered, how its impact would be measured, and which of the Partnership’s goals it served.
Strategic planning and mission statements will never be the most exciting part of this story; they’re not the cake’s icing, they’re the recipe. And as the Partnership approaches the completion of its 2019–2026 strategic plan, it has just taken the first step toward the next one by rewriting that recipe for the decade ahead.
Same Forest, Same Towns, Same Purpose
Drafting the new statements was a collaborative process, consistent with how the Partnership has worked from the start. Board members shaped the language during in-person annual meetings. Committees reviewed it in session. Community members shared their thoughts and identified strengths and gaps through data-driven self-assessments. Partners and local representatives weighed in online throughout. The process drew on needs and desires expressed through community coaching, so the words reflect what the towns themselves have asked for.
After months of discussion, on July 22, 2026, during the Quarterly Board Meeting held in Parsons, the Partnership reaffirmed the principles outlined in its original mission while refining its language for the next decade.
The Partnership’s vision is a resilient network of gateway towns, united by the Monongahela National Forest, with a thriving economy and an exceptional quality of life.
Our mission is to build thriving communities through regional collaboration and a shared connection to the Monongahela National Forest.
These statements carry forward what the founding summit established. The original mission committed the Partnership to a sustainable recreation economy that enhances quality of life for residents and visitors. The original vision described a strong economy grounded in recreation, tourism, healthy landscapes, and active land management, while preserving each town’s character. The new language keeps those commitments and says them in fewer words. As Executive Director Josh Nease put it during the meeting, “The statements do not need to capture everything.” Tighter language doesn’t just guide the Partnership without getting bogged down in technical detail — it gives town volunteers and the communities the organization serves a clearer, more memorable rallying point. Collaboration, connection to the forest, a strong economy, and quality of life remain at the center of it all.
The statements do not need to capture everything. They are laying the groundwork for a new strategic plan.
The statements also reflect how much the region itself has changed, in part due to the Partnership’s ongoing work. The new mission and vision broaden the frame from a recreation economy to thriving communities, putting sharper focus on the towns that make it all possible. They also name the forest itself as the thread connecting the towns, recognizing the Mon as one of the Partnership’s most important partners and the connective tissue that unites these rural communities.
Shaping a Strategy for Sustainable Change
"These statements are not carved in stone. These can evolve. The organization has grown and will continue to change. The board should be confident it can and will revisit both statements."
Adopting a mission and vision is a beginning, not a conclusion. From here, the Partnership will develop the strategic plan that translates these statements into specific goals and actions to drive work over the next decade. The method stays the same as it’s been since that first summit: listen to the communities, hold to shared goals, and adapt as the region’s needs change. As Jessica Sutton, acting chair of the Mon Forest Towns Partnership, put it: “These statements are not carved in stone. These can evolve. The organization has grown and will continue to change. The board should be confident it can and will revisit both statements.“
Ten years ago, a simple idea brought these towns together. This next chapter starts the same way, and the strategic plan built on it will be the one to watch. To read more about the Mon Forest Towns Partnership’s work and history, visit our About section.
