Conservation and commercial approaches to forests as a resource seem diametrically opposed. What if we could align the financial incentives to balance both the ecological value living forest provide and access the raw material value? This is the vision of a managed "working forest". This novel approach to conservation grew from the realization that economics shaped the forest landscape. Forests became valued for timber and land development with clearcutting as a standard approach to maximize that value—a reality that led to the unintended consequence of forest loss and depletion. This new approach broadens society's view of the suite of goods and services healthy forest ecosystems provide, including the wood, water, wildlife, and well-balanced climate essential to a livable planet. By bringing together stakeholders to manage privately-held forests more deliberately, we can maintain healthier ecosystems while creating valuable resources and jobs that support the surrounding community. We can start to see the forest for more than the trees. Laurie A. Wayburn is the President and co-founder of Pacific Forest Trust. Her passion is creating, facilitating, and implementing a new vision for valuing, conserving, and managing forests in all their varied, complex splendor—the whole system. This management model can transform our reliance on timber products to pay the bills to one where we value and pay for all their essential gifts to us: water, climate, wildlife and renewal. A graduate of Harvard College, she worked with the United Nations Environment Program, as well as the Ecological Sciences Division of UNESCO (Man and Biosphere Program) in sustainable development for over a decade. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx