American Tree Farm System

[DeerMeadowFarm]

When the state forester came out to visit our woodlot a month ago, she suggested that we consider joining the American Tree Farm System:
https://www.treefarmsystem.org/get-started-american-tree-farm

Who has their woods certified with them? What are the benefits? What are the downsides?

Thanks!
Rich

[BradMarks]

DMF:  are you involved with your local or state small woodland owners organizations?, for which you can guage the value of belonging to "woodsy" organizations. A lot can be gleaned from fellow local landowners. National organizations certify or validate your own accomplishments, and of course take your money, in exchange for info and their lobbying efforts. Trying not to be negative, as there are positives to be had. It's a feel good thing mostly, IMO.  To me it's like the NFIB, which I quit paying dues to years ago.  I'm sure others have different views on the subject.

[beenthere]

I used to belong to the ATFS. But my experience parallels what BradMarks just posted.

The ATFS lost me in the "do-gooder" themes that were evident and exposed. Somewhat parallel to the "certification" movement (IMO).

It was an early move to organize the private forest owners, and a form of unionization. Probably a worthy cause, until it gets out of control.

[Phorester]

Whether we like it or not (and I don't), certified forests, certified wood, is here to stay.  The ATF has been in place since 1949.  They offer what most other certification entities don't; unrestricted forest management practices.  Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), some others, don't like clearcutting, don't like herbicide spraying, etc.  They do not allow the landowner or forester to be as flexible as needed sometimes to do proper forest management.  It's also a sign of pride for many landowners to post their diamond-shaped "Tree Farm" sign on their property.

All of these organizations cost something.  The Tree Farm system is the least costly to the landowner, and is the most flexible with forest management practices.

In my area, the local pulpwood buyer (Verso Paper, formerly NewPage, formerly Mead-Westvaco, etc.) pays more for pulpwood from a certified Tree Farm than from land that is not.

[WDH]

I have a certified Tree Farm in the ATFS.  Last time I sold pulpwood, the mill gave me 3% more for being certified.  Not much, but it is a small bargaining chip.  Being a member also give me legitimacy with the local, State, and Federal Governments who are out to regulate me and tax me.  So, I am a "Farmer" just like the row crop guys, I just farm trees, cut lumber from them, and sell the lumber.   

[OneWithWood]

I am a member of ATFS.  My woods is not certified through them (SFI) due to the cost of the certification and that my woods is totally hardwood.  I am certified FSC through our state classification program.
A lot of the value to joining ATFS comes from the knowledge the non forester owner can glean from the local state tree farm committee.  If your state has a strong committee the guidance can be a valuable asset. 
ATFS is not an organization you just join, pay the dues and get the sign.  The sign is earned by abiding by the standards promulgated by ATFS and verified by an onsite inspection from foresters associated with the state committee.  If you see an ATFS diamond you can be assured the woods is being well managed and BMPs are in use.
ATFS lobbies on behalf of all forest land owners.  Probably the most significant thing they have been able to accomplish on the national scene is to educate the government on the flawed reasoning of LEED certification for buildings.  The LEED standards discriminate against the use of wood products.  Recently the Department of Defense has begun utilizing much more wood in new construction and remodeling due to the efforts of ATFS.  After all, we all know wood is one of natures most renewable resources.
As with any organization of size and relying largely on volunteers there are issues.  All-in-all though I believe the plusses outweigh the minuses and if you meet the requirements joining is a positive.

[Phorester]

In my area, the pulp mill will pay 5% more for pine pulpwood and 10% more for hardwood for pulpwood coming from Tree Farm certified lands. 

Different States have different procedures and costs for Tree Farm certification, and different wood industries pay differently for trees from TF lands.

ONEWITHWOOD: In Virginia a landowner is a certified forest landowner if he is in the TF program.  Can you explain why you are in the Tree Farm program, but are not considered a certified forest in IN?

[OneWithWood]

Phorester, I guess it depends on the definition of 'certified'.  In Indiana, 'certified' means being recognized by an internationally recognized certifying entity such as SFI, FSC and possibly Green Tag.  Being a recognized tree farm does not bequeath the SFI certification.  To get the SFI certification a landowner must go through the entire, and expensive, certification procedure.  The state forestry division of the Indiana DNR struck a deal with FSC that all state classified forestlands would be deemed certified as a group.  They tried to do the same thing with SFI certification but it was deemed to costly to maintain.  For Indiana forestlands that are almost entirely hardwood forests the FSC certification carries a lot more weight than the SFI certification which means more for pinelands.
I am FSC certified because I enrolled my land in the Indiana Classified Woodlands program.  My belonging to ATFS has no bearing on that certification, nor does it qualify my wood as SFI certified.

[Texas Ranger]

I used to certify land for clients, dropped it for a while, and started up again 2 years ago, since then the system has changed (this is in Texas) and has become more complicated.  All inspectors need to redo their training, paper work has changed.  They "lost' the last one I did before the new requirements.  The state chairman told me 75% of inspectors have not retrained.

The only good things to say about it is that the land is certified for tax purposes, and for certified sales.

[Phorester]

ONEWITHWOOD; A Certified Tree Farm should qualify for SFI certification also. From the ATFS website:

"ATFS is endorsed by the Programme for the Certification of Forest Certification schemes (PEFC). The SFI program recognizes fiber from any standard operating in North America that endorsed by PEFC, which means fiber from ATFS-certified forests can be counted as certified content for SFI label use. ATFS has an Online Verification Database Tool so companies can verify wood from ATFS-certified lands."

Link to the whole article:  http://www.sfiprogram.org/sfi-standard/american-tree-farm-system/

Here is a link for a brief summary of the internationally recognized forest certification programs, which includes the American Tree Farm System:

http://www.naa.org/About-NAA/Newspapers-and-Sustainability/Background/Forest-Certification-Programs.aspx

TRANGER, the complications in the inspection procedure for Tree Farms is due to them becoming an internationally recognized forest certification system and having to put their requirements in place within their own program.  Everything's more complicated. The new standards just came online in January of this year, so all inspectors have to re-train and a lot of States are in the same boat as Texas with a large percentage of inspectors suddenly having to re-qualify.  I just did my re-training last week.

[Texas Ranger]

Phorester, in my opinion, the Texas systems draws negative vacuum.

[OneWithWood]

Phorester, how do you interpret this sentence from the article you linked?

"Third-party certification audits, conducted by firms accredited by the ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board (ANAB) or the Standards Council of Canada (SCC), are required for all certification programs of the ATFS."

The reason I ask is that when I inquired about obtaining an SFI cert number to put on my business card I was told by the folks in DC that I would need to pay for a third party audit to obtain a number and that simply being part of the ATFS did not qualify my lands as SFI certified.

I am pretty sure the reason the Indiana Div of Forestry decided not to pursue SFI for enrolled Classified Woodlands was because the annual cost for the third party audit was north of $30,0000.