Dating back to the 1940’s, The American Tree Farm System can lay claim to being the oldest form of certification or recognition system for the practice of growing trees and maintaining sustainable forests in America.  For generations, American landowners and farmers have proudly posted their Tree Farm signs as a way of displaying their stewardship values. 

 

“Our sign has been out there in the woods for some 60 years,” stated Dave Woodmansee, a Co-Chair of North Carolina Tree Farm.  “Most folks recognize the sign means that the forest is being well-managed.”  

 

In today’s global market with numerous certification programs trying to wrestle their way to the top of the pecking order, The American Tree Farm National Operating Committee, a group comprised of representatives from Tree Farm, state forestry associations, consulting foresters, state forestry agencies, loggers and industry professionals from all regions of the United States, took a bold step in July of 2003 to formalize its established policy that calls for all Tree Farms to be certified on acceptance into the program. Each state will have a certain percentage of its Tree Farm members certfied on an annual basis, meaning that each Tree Farm will be visited in a 5-10 year period, depending on the numbers participating in the program.

 

To meet these requirements, The North Carolina Tree Farm Program has divided the state into the same 13 districts that the North Carolina Division of Forest Resources utilizes to cover the state.  Each district has a coordinator who is responsible for coordinating with the Tree Farm Inspectors in his district, reviewing completed inspections and ensuring that Tree Farms in the district are re-inspected in a timely manner.  

 

The importance of meeting the recertification schedule established by the American Tree Farm System, which is located in Washington, DC, is not only the integrity of the program, but it has financial impacts as well. Each state program is awarded a grant from the national program based on the number of certified Tree Farmers.

 

“The grant money we receive from Tree Farm has always been designed just as seed money,” stated Woodmansee.  “It is our goal to grow this program with our landowners, sponsoring agencies and associations and industry to return North Carolina’s Tree Farm program back to its proper standing in the American Tree Farm system.”

 

The SFI system recognizes the American Tree Farm System as a legitimate certification system for non-industrial private forests in the U.S.  ATFS in turn recognizes SFI as a legitimate certification system for industrial forest properties and others in the U.S.  

 

“Certification is really not a major deal yet in the U.S., but it could very well be in the future,” stated Woodmansee. “In Europe, it's a big deal right now.  Some companies will not purchase a product that is not certified.  This can be critical to big companies, but smaller, family-type operations can also develop niche markets by procuring their raw materials from certified lands.”

 

Obviously, there are several prominent challenges on the horizon for the program both at the state and national level.  Woodmansee believes that the most pressing challenge for North Carolina comes back to the task of reaching out to the state’s landowners in an efficient and effective manner. 

 

“We have already updated our database to the best of our abilities,” explained Woodmansee.  “We have trained more than 300 foresters to serve as inspectors.  Now, we need to publicize our program so we can start hearing from landowners directly.  If that happens, we can get out on the ground this fall and conduct as many re-inspections as possible of the tree farms we know were once active.  It will not be an easy task, but this type of outreach is exactly what The American Tree Farm System is all about.  Tree Farm helps landowners to do a better job of managing their lands and making them better stewards of the land in the process.”

 

Since the North Carolina Tree Farm program is an all-volunteer organization, the tree farm program is still the best certification deal on the block in terms of costs and benefits for landowners. 

 

There is no charge to the landowner for Tree Farm certification. 

 

Landowners, who own more than 10 acres and have a management plan, can earn tree farm status for their lands simply by making a phone call to the North Carolina Tree Farm Program. If a landowner does not have a managment plan, a tree farm volunteer forester, state forester or consulting forester can help develop a management plan to meet the standards. The Tree Farm Inspector can will then complete the proper paperwork.

 

Please call Chris Brown at (800) 231-7723 to request more information on enrolling in the program.