**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** FORESTS ARE CRITICALLY IMPORTANT RESOURCES FOR HUMAN AND BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS THAT PROVIDE NUMEROUS BENEFITS, INCLUDING RAW MATERIALS FOR TIMBER INDUSTRIES, HABITAT FOR AGRICULTURAL POLLINATORS, STABILIZATION AND ENRICHMENT SOILS AND WATER QUALITY, JUST TO NAME A FEW OF THEIR BENEFITS. GLOBALLY, TREES ARE FACING AN EXTINCTION CRISIS, WITH NEARLY A THIRD OF SPECIES THREATENED OR ENDANGERED, AND IN THE UNITED STATES, 11% OF TREES FACE EXTINCTION. THE EASTERN HEMLOCK (TSUGA CANADENSIS) IS A KEYSTONE SPECIES OF EASTERN FORESTS IN THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA AND IS FACING AN EXTINCTION CRISIS FROM AN INVASIVE PEST AND CLIMATE CHANGE. THIS PROJECT AIMS TO CREATE THE KNOWLEDGE BASE TO AID THE RECOVERY OF THE SPECIES AND TO PREPARE FOR FUTURE CHALLENGES TO ITS EXISTENCE.TO ACHIEVE THESE GOALS, PRINCIPLES OF CONSERVATION GENOMICS WILL BE USED TO CREATE A NEW REFERENCE GENOME AND TO IDENTIFY BENEFICIAL GENETIC VARIATION. A REFERENCE GENOME IS A SET OF DNA SEQUENCES THAT IDEALLY SPAN EVERY CHROMOSOME, WHERE GENES ARE IDENTIFIED AND DESCRIBED ACCORDING TO THEIR STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION. REFERENCE GENOMES AID GENETIC PROJECTS IN NUMEROUS WAYS, MOST IMPORTANTLY THEY PROVIDE AN INDEX OF THE GENOME AND A DESCRIPTION OF EVERY GENE AND REGULATORY ELEMENT. USING THE REFERENCE GENOME AND A SAMPLE OF DNA SEQUENCES FROM WILD TREES, GENETIC VARIATION WHICH IS BENEFICIAL FOR THE PERSISTENCE OF THE SPECIES CAN BE IDENTIFIED AND DESCRIBED. SEEDS FROM TREES CONTAINING THE MOST BENEFICIAL GENETIC VARIATION IN CHALLENGING ENVIRONMENTS CAN BE COLLECTED AND STORED FOR FUTURE BREEDING EFFORTS OR REFORESTATION. THROUGH USING PRINCIPLES OF CONSERVATION, TREE IMPROVEMENT, AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY, SPECIES AND THE BENEFITS THEY PROVIDE CAN BE PROTECTED FROM EXTINCTION.