Virginia Landowner Groups are Leaders in First Regional FSC Certification Program for Family Forests in the South
New program facilitates access to certification and emerging markets for family forests and local forest-based businesses

Two Virginia landowner groups are leading the way for facilitating greater access to certification for family forestlands in the South. Several Virginia landowners who are members of Appalachian Sustainable Development and the Blue Ridge Forest Cooperative recently received Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification for member forestlands and mill operations through the Southern Forests Network’s new Group Certification Program. The Southern Forests Network’s Group Certification Program is the first of its kind in the South, and was developed to provide family forest owners, local forest-based businesses, and distributors of forest products with access to FSC certification.

Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification, comparable to organic certification in farming, is widely recognized as the most credible certification system for forest management. Because FSC certification is relatively inaccessible to most private landowners and small businesses due to the cost and administrative requirements, it has been slow to catch on in the South, where family-owned forests dominate the landscape. Working in cooperation with other grassroots landowner groups, consulting foresters, and extension agencies, the Southern Forests Network and the Blue Ridge Forest Cooperative began developing the Group Certification Program in 2006.

Harry Groot is the founder and CEO of the Blue Ridge Forest Cooperative (BRFC), a member-owned business serving forest landowners in the Virginia watersheds of the New River, the upper James River, and the upper Roanoke River. “FSC certification recognizes the excellent forest practices we insist on and provides access to good markets for our products. Group certification reduces our costs and simplifies the process, too. We’ve been stewards of this land for thirty years and our children want to keep our farm and forest productive into the future. Affordable certification and strong markets for FSC certified forest products will help us do that.” The BRFC is certifying member forestlands and their wood processing facilities through the Southern Forests Network.

Kathlyn Terry is Appalachian Sustainable Development’s Business Operations Manager. “ASD is pursuing FSC certification for the same reason that we chose to have our produce certified organic. We want our customers to have confidence that the wood products they purchase from Sustainable Woods enhance the local economy and support sound environmental practices. Those who know us well already have that confidence, but FSC certification will allow those who are not familiar with ASD and its mission to see this internationally recognized label and right away know that our products are environmentally friendly”.
Jim Sitts is the Appalachian Timber Manager for Columbia Forest Products. "We operate two decorative hardwood plywood plants in the southern Appalachian region and green building products are the fastest growing part of our business. As a Forest Stewardship Council certified company we are always in the market for FSC certified wood to use in our products, but supplies in the South are extremely limited. We are excited that the Southern Forest Network is facilitating certification for private forests in the region."

Family forests in the South produce more timber than any other sector of the U.S. timber industry. The globalization of the timber industry, loss of wood products manufacturing facilities in our region, and increasing rural property values have significantly diminished the economic feasibility of forestland ownership for landowners. In addition, past forestry practices and various environmental threats have diminished the ecological health and productivity of Southern forests. As a result, the South faces the greatest rates of forestland loss anywhere in America. Southern forests are among the most ecologically and economically productive forests in the world, yet there are more threatened forest ecosystems in the South than in any other region of the U.S.

The Southern Forests Network has certified landowners and businesses in Mississippi, North Carolina, and Virginia, and plans to expand certification and other programs throughout the region. The Southern Forests Network is one of several community organizations in the U.S. pioneering FSC certification programs for family forestlands, but is one of only 3 group FSC chain-of-custody certification programs for mills and small businesses in the U.S.

“The traditions of producing timber, medicinal plants, and other forest products have provided the economic foundation for sustaining the South’s forest landscape and our forest-based heritage for generations. If we want to conserve what’s left of our forests, we’ve got to make it work economically. FSC certification provides a framework both for excellent forest management and for developing specialized markets that make it feasible. The most innovative landowners, forestry professionals, and businesses are already demanding it” explained Alyx Perry, Director of the Southern Forests Network.

“Thanks to the SFN and our FSC certification, we can now practice forestry on our farm like we have long desired. We are able to selectively harvest trees and still live in a forest, not a clear cut. Through the Blue Ridge Forest Cooperative, we’re joining others to add value and market our responsibly harvested forest products all thanks to SFN and the FSC label” said Jim Minick, a BRFC member and one of the founding members of the program.

A University of Tennessee survey of forestland owners found that while only 3 percent of landowners surveyed had familiarity with forest certification, when given a definition of forest certification 81 percent said they would consider it .*

“The entire Southern region is quickly losing our forests and their ability to provide wildlife habitat, clean air and water, and forest-based livelihoods simply because forestland ownership has become such a financial challenge for family forest owners. Those concerned with forest conservation and those who make their living from the forest are coming together to sustain our forest products industries for the sake of both our economies and our ecosystems,” said Susan Moore, Director of the Forestry and Environmental Outreach Program with North Carolina State University Extension Forestry.

SmartWood, an FSC-accredited certifier conducted the certification evaluation of the Southern Forests Network’s Group Certification Program. “Responsible forest stewardship is clearly a core value of most family forest owners, and access to markets that recognize those values is long overdue. Through the leadership of the Southern Forest Network, these landowners can be assured of a very high standard of forest management, and can also participate in the fast-growing marketplace for FSC-certified wood products.” said Dave Bubser, SmartWood’s US Region Manager.

The development of the Group Certification Program was supported by investments from the Merck Family Fund, Town Creek Foundation, US Department of Agriculture, and the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation.

The Southern Forests Network (SFN) is a regional network of landowners, forestry professionals, and businesses working to conserve private forestlands and cultivate sustainable forest-based economies in the South.

For more information go to: http://www.southernforestsnetwork.org

* Mercker, David, Forest Certification for Family-owned Forests: Who will certify and why?, Renewable Resource Notes, University of Tennessee Extension, May 2006.