The American Tree Farm System (ATFS) is a powerful program of the American Forest Foundation (AFF), dedicated to engaging family forest owners and connecting them with the education and support they need to actively manage their land. ATFS also offers the only certification system designed specifically for small, private landowners, recognizing the more than 71,000 family forest owners who are sustainably managing more than 19 million acres across the U.S. to protect clean water, improve wildlife habitat and increase the supply of sustainably produced, third-party certified wood. AFF is investing in dedicated regional staff to work directly with states to streamline certification and identify ways in which we can grow, strengthen and increase the impact of ATFS based on the needs of each state. 

We asked our new Western Regional Tree Farm Manager, Angela Wells, to share her personal connection to ATFS and why she’s so passionate about helping family forest owners through the program.

Growing up on a certified family forest and being fully integrated in its management formed the trajectory of my life. A forester named John Malone was our original Tree Farm inspector, and because of him I knew of forestry as a profession, and an honorable one at that. My bachelor’s in forestry at the University of Washington (and later a masters at Oregon State) were informed by my first seasons on a post-sale timber crew for the Forest Service, laying out reforestation units after the 1994 Tyee Creek Fire in Central Washington. The strong back I gained as free labor on the Tree Farm served me well during a three-season stint on a Forest Service hotshot crew and earned the down payment that helped me buy my first home. These experiences together brought me to Montana where I worked with the state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation managing stewardship programs for family forest owners. 

To say that the Tree Farm program is important to me is an understatement. That is why I am so excited to join the American Tree Farm System as the Western Region Tree Farm Manager. In this position, I will work with 9 state programs around the West to determine the best way to grow, strengthen, and increase the impact of ATFS in the region. For some, this might mean streamlining enrollment of new landowners by making it easier to develop management plans. For others, it might be spreading the workload of inspections more equitably or recruiting more capacity to Tree Farm Steering Committees. Others may be in a position that they simply want to provide more services to their existing membership and capture the positive impacts generated on the ground. I am looking forward to working with state programs to determine what makes Tree Farm important in their state and offer resources to reach more people with the good news of sustainable family forest management for wood, wildlife, water, and recreation.

I’m also looking forward to exploring new ways to connect the expertise within ATFS to landscape scale conservation work that addresses big challenges in new ways. California is home to an exciting example of this type of collaboration. California Tree Farm Program is one of the American Forest Foundation’s key partners in the My Sierra Woods program, which is helping family forest owners in Northern California reduce wildfire risk, reforest their land and create more resilient forests. The California Tree Farm Program is a critical piece of this important work, as they create network of about 500 landowners who are already active stewards of their forests. Through the My Sierra Woods program, family forest owners will be given the opportunity to meet with a Tree Farmer, rather than a forester if they choose. This peer network is a great example of where ATFS really shines—they offer a path of education and community for those who want to explore the forest management process by talking with another landowner who has been through a similar experience. Through expanding capacity, CATF will also be involved in the coordination of all landowner outreach and maintaining long-term relationships with family forest owners in the state, just as they have done for years.

I look forward to working with each state committee to benefit the membership of each one and help other families create lasting legacies of sustainable forests, just as my family’s own Mallons’ Murdock Ranch in Washington has done for generations, as we look forward to celebrating 50 years as an ATFS certified tree farm in 2023! 

[A portion of this article originally appeared in the Washington Tree Farm newsletter]