On December 21, 2000, The Conservation Fund, acting on behalf of the Richard King Mellon Foundation, transferred some 29,000 acres of former industrial forest land on Maryland’s Eastern Shore to the State of Maryland. What made the gift unique was that TCF also presented the State with a sustainable management plan designed to meet environmental goals while continuing to contribute to local economies. In addition, they had entered into a 3-year contract with a private land management firm to carry out day-to-day management and implementation of the plan, and that contract was also conveyed with the land. The result is state-owned public forest land, managed on a daily basis by a private forestry firm, carrying out a conservation-oriented sustainable forestry plan. The unusual arrangement has created new challenges and opportunities for state forestry, and the lessons being learned may transfer well beyond these forests.