The FSC Family Forests Alliance has been created to provide a national mechanism for bringing together individuals and organizations committed to promoting responsible forest stewardship through FSC standards. By creating a forum for communication, cooperation, and information sharing, participants in the Alliance can pursue issues of common interest, learn from one another, and enlarge the community of landowners and small businesses practicing responsible forestry.

Latest News:

• 10/10/2011

  FSC-US and Alliance renew commitment to Family Forest Certification

The four primary purposes of the FSC Family Forests Alliance are to:

• Advocate for FSC policies, public policies, and procurement policies that better serve FSC-certified family forests.
• Operate as a forum to share information and strategies for successful models of certification, forest management, policy development, and market development.
• Provide more visible networks and membership opportunities for family forest owners who feel underserved by existing forest management models and landowner organizations.
• Work collaboratively to develop new resources and tools for group certification programs.
  

Join the Family Forests Alliance group on LinkedIn (click here)!

Background

In 2007, the core organizers of the FSC Family Forest Alliance hosted an inaugural national gathering at the Wingspread Conference Center in Racine, Wisconsin, and the outcomes of that gathering defined the Alliance's first Action Plan. Since that meeting the Alliance has been focused on efforts to develop family forest standards as a part of the FSC standards revision process. The Alliance partners have also initiated carbon credit projects for family forest owners, supported marketing alliances and participated in FSC's global efforts with small forest holders.

Alliance Organizers:

• Harry Groot, Next Generation Woods, Christiansburg, VA
• Kathryn Fernholz, Dovetail Partners, Minneapolis, MN

• John Gunn, Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences, Brunswick, ME
• Alyx Perry, Southern Forests Network, Asheville, NC
• Dylan Jenkins, FiniteCarbon, Williamsport, PA
• Joe Smith, Phillipston, MA
  

Alliance Partners:

• Appalachian Sustainable Development
• Cook County Sustainable Forestry Cooperative
• Eastern Ontario Model Forest
• The Forest Guild
• Forestry for the Bay Program, Chesapeake Bay Program
• Harrop-Procter Community Forest
• Masconomo Forestry
  
• Massachusetts Woodlands Cooperative
• National Wildlife Federation, Northeast Natural Resource Center
• Northwoods Forestry Cooperative
• Residents' Committee to Protect the Adirondacks
• Scientific Certification Systems
• Rainforest Alliance, SmartWood
• Sustainable Northwest
• Sustainable Woods Network
• Vermont Family Forests
• Wisconsin Family Forests

Alliance partners are individuals or organizations that support the purposes of the Alliance and are currently involved with or pursuing the development of an FSC certification program for family forestowners. Benefits of being a partner include receiving notices and updates from the Alliance about issues related to family forest certification, an opportunity to contribute to the four purposes of the Alliance, and access to the other partners inthe Alliance as resources for solutions to certification's technical challenges.

Alliance Sponsors:

• Verso Paper, First Founding Sponsor ("Verso Paper Founding Sponsor of Alliance" click here for press release)
• Fox Foundation (in memory of Elaine Fox), Founding Sponsor
• NewPage Corporation, Founding Sponsor
• Domtar Inc.
• Ford Foundation
• Flintridge Foundation
• Potlatch Corporation
• The Johnson Foundation
• Stora Enso
• Weyerhaeuser Family Foundation

For more information about the FSC Family Forests Alliance and becoming a partner or sponsor, please contact: Kathryn Fernholz of Dovetail Partners at info@dovetailinc.org, 612-333-0430

To download a one-page flyer about the Alliance, click here (pdf, 228 kb)

Alliance Materials

2011 Action Plan (pdf, 120 kb)

US FM Certificate Survey Results Report (pdf, 1 mb)

FFA Observations Report (pdf, 396 kb)

2009 FSC-US & Alliance MOU (pdf, 936 kb)

2009 Action Plan (pdf, 440 kb)

Creating "The Lisbon Process": A Report on the FSC-WWF Lisbon Conference on Smallholder and Community-based Forestry Operations 7-10 May 2008 (pdf, 700 kb)

2008 Action Plan (pdf, 280 kb)

2007 FSC-US & Alliance MOU (pdf, 148 kb)

Comments submitted by the Family Forests Alliance regarding the FSC-US Standards Review
(pdf, 284 kb)

Resources

Group Forest Management Certification

Group Chain-of-Custody Certification

Forest Certification and Nonindustrial Private Forest Landowners:
Who Will Consider Certifying and Why? (pdf, 541 kb)

Forest Pesticide Resources - The Community Forestry Resource Center

FSC-US: Family Forests Program