Family Forest Blog
June 13, 2018
Domtar & AFF Announce Partnership for Forest Conservation and Bird Habitat
Today, the American Forest Foundation (AFF) and Domtar together announced a new partnership to help family and private woodland owners in northwest Pennsylvania and southwest New York improve habitat for at-risk bird and wildlife species.
May 7, 2018
Spreading the Cost Before the Fires Spread Further: Innovative Solution to Wildfire Mitigation
Recent predictions for the 2018 wildfire season likely have many across the West worried, especially thanks to drought conditions that have persisted through the winter in several states. Just last year over 10 million acres burned, making it one of the country’s worst wildfire seasons in recorded history. It’s no wonder people are worried.
May 3, 2018
AFF Applauds New Legislation That Will Help Open Markets for Wood
The American Forest Foundation (AFF), a leading conservation organization that helps America’s family forest owners care for their land, today applauded Senators Shaheen (D-NH) and Collins (R-ME) for introducing legislation designed to spur markets for low value wood, thus helping landowners afford the good stewardship practices needed to care for their forests.
April 23, 2018
Even Wildland Firefighters Need Help to Handle Wildland Fire Risk
When it was time to retire for Roy and Karen Stock and their friends, all their friends headed south to the warmth, but the Stocks made the decision to move north. After years of vacationing in Montana, they wanted a place with mountain views and big open skies. But rather than purchase a small bungalow like other retirees, they decided to take on a much bigger adventure—75 acres of forestland tucked into the Big Belt Mountain Range in Cascade.
April 18, 2018
AFF Commends House Ag For Addressing Family Forest Issues in Farm Bill
The American Forest Foundation (AFF), the leading conservation non-profit that specializes in family forests, commended the House Agriculture Committee for including many provisions in the House Farm Bill, passed by Committee today, that will support America’s 21 million family forest owners.
April 17, 2018
USFS, Esri, Mars, McDonald's, Staples & Others Partner With AFF, GreenBlue on Sustainability Tool
Today, the American Forest Foundation (AFF) and GreenBlue announced the collaboration of a diverse set of partners that will support the development of a new forest sustainability tool that complements forest certification. The digital mapping tool, called Forests in Focus, will assess the sustainability of family-owned forests at the landscape-level, or across a wood supply region, in the United States.
April 16, 2018
Inspector Highlight: The 2018 National Inspector of the Year, Mississippi’s Michael Hughey
The American Tree Farm System’s (ATFS) vast network of volunteers, inspectors, state committee members and Tree Farmers truly are the glue that holds the program together. They are passion, have incredible expertise, and most importantly, voluntarily dedicate their time, to the program, the people, and to forest stewardship. One example of this is Mississippi’s Michael Hughey, a service forester for the Mississippi Forestry Commission, who has been awarded the 2018 Inspector of the Year award from ATFS.
April 16, 2018
Leader Highlight: The 2018 National Leadership Award of the Year Honoree, SC’s George Kessler
The American Tree Farm System’s (ATFS) dedicated community of volunteers is the backbone that has supported Tree Farm for more than 75 years. Dr. George Kessler of South Carolina is one of many exceptional volunteers in the American Tree Farm System. That is why he has been awarded the 2018 National Leader of the Year award.
April 16, 2018
AFF Statement Regarding USDA Undersecretary Nominee James Hubbard
The following statement can be attributed to Tom Martin, President and CEO of the American Forest Foundation (AFF), in regards to the nomination of James Hubbard to U.S. Department of Agriculture Undersecretary of Natural Resources and Environment (USDA).
April 3, 2018
Helping Audubon Vermont Spread Their Wings to Reach More Family Woodland Owners
Vermont’s forests are home to some of the highest diversity of breeding birds in the United States—making this region globally important habitat for migratory birds and many other wildlife species. Jim Shallow knows this all too well. As the managing director of the Audubon Vermont's Forest Bird Initiative, he has been working for two decades to conserve and improve the forests across New England so that they continue to support migratory birds.
March 28, 2018
The Challenges of Burnt-Out Markets
The Defrees family of eastern Oregon are no strangers to the challenges that come along with forest ownership, having owned a 2,000-acre ranch for more than 100 years. In 1986, the Defrees were hit hard when lightning sparked the Huckleberry Forest Fire — a wildfire that would go on to burn 9,600 acres in their area. The wildfire took with it virtually every ponderosa pine, Western larch, Douglas fir, white fir and black pine tree on the 500 acres of their land it swept through.
March 23, 2018
AFF Statement on Wildfire Funding Fix Inclusion Within Congressional FY2018 Spending Bill
The following statement can be attributed to Tom Martin, President and CEO of the American Forest Foundation, in regards to the inclusion of a policy fix within the FY2018 Appropriations Bill to the wildfire funding challenges within the U.S. Forest Service and Department of Interior budgets.
March 22, 2018
Advocacy Victory on Wildfire Funding Fix
After weeks of intense negotiations, Congressional leaders released their FY2018 Appropriations Bill, including a comprehensive wildfire funding fix to the budgetary challenges within the U.S. Forest Service and Department of the Interior. We anticipate Congress will pass this legislation later this week.
March 1, 2018
AFF and Enviva Announce Collaboration to Test Streamlined ATFS Streamlined Certification
Today, the American Forest Foundation (AFF) and Enviva Holdings, LP (Enviva) announced a collaboration to pilot a new approach to certify family and small forest holdings through American Tree Farm System (ATFS) forest certification. This pilot is intended to reduce barriers to landowner participation in forest certification while ensuring rigorous sustainability standards are met, and long-term engagement of family woodland owners that leads to improved forest stewardship.
February 14, 2018
Supporting Montana DNRC in Growing Its Landowner Outreach
Angela Wells, the Stewardship Program Manager at the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC), spent her days working with private landowners in Montana to help them care for their land.