Tree Farmer

[woodtroll]

Donk, That is kind of my question. If I need to promote the program, (and I have been floating around Tree Farmer for some years without being 100% sold on it) I would like to be able to tell it's benefits. It seemed to be a good magazine, then with certification, that had possibility. I worry about hooks, once you are in and the program changes and charges $ to be in.
There are no tax benefits to Tree Farm. It is separate from state stewardship programs. Some of which reduce property taxes.

[SwampDonkey]

We only get tax breaks here on woodlots if it is part of a business with expectation of profits, like part of the farm or owned by a silviculture contractor type business who harvests wood for income. To qualify it has to have a management plan. If it's a hobby or sitting idly by to be later liquidated or heirship property it will be taxed as income or capital gains respectively.

We get government assistance for PCT thinning and planting, but not for activities that generates revenues.

[Magicman]

I would think that the Tree Farm program was in place long before anyone dreamed up "Certification".

I was wondering what the benefit was to tree farm if it's not a certification.

Have you ever thought about Pride.  I am very proud of the fact that I have taken enough interest in the family property that I now own to try to improve it and leave it in much better condition than it was in when I bought it.   Having a Registered Forester to guide me and give advice was worthwhile.  I am very confidant of the forestry practices that I am following.

Plus I like my Sign.

[SwampDonkey]

We have something similar , now that I know what Tree Farm represents. You see we looked at it as a certification up here because I almost think Maine now does.

We call it Woodlot Owner of The Year, plaques are given and signage (sometimes). It is usually awarded by forestry companies in NB and Woodlot Owner Groups. DNR does not give awards and recognition. They used to help with field days on woodlots awarded through Forest Extension. There has been no Forest Extension for 15 years. So Woodlot Owner Groups plan field days now with a new group called INFOR that was created to catalog information from old DNR programs and put on information sessions.

I am surprised Time Warner in targeting the north with certification, and states to the south are not even being targeted at all apparently. Interesting, maybe they just buy northern pulp sourced paper? Shrug. Maybe we should tell Time Warner where they can stuff it.

[Magicman]

   We have a county Tree Farmer of the Year Award, which is awarded by our Lincoln County Forestry Association.  It's based on his/her conservation practices and betterment of their tree farm.  These are then submitted to a panel and an ultimate State Tree Farmer is awarded.

My hope is that one day to be recognized by our County Ass'n.  But if not, that effort is already recognized my me and my family.  

As I said earlier, this has absolutely nothing to do with "certification".

[Phorester]

Being designated as a Tree Farm, becoming a member of the ATF, started out as a reward program.  It recognized private and industrial forest landowners who did better forest management than other landowners.    There were no "benefits" - it was a reward.  

With the advent of the forest certification trend, it finally became a forest certification program too.  Any sawtimber, veneer, or pulpwood sold from a Tree Farm-certified property is considered certified wood.  A lot of 2nd and 3rd level wood product manufacturers are looking to have that designation on their products.  As I have said, another benefit of being a certified Tree Farm in my area is that you will be paid more for your pulpwood.

It used to be a informal system that was not applied properly in many places.  All you needed was 10 acres of woods and a forester to fill out the very simple one page form.  The required management plan was a few check boxes on the form and a few short blank lines where you could put things like "sawtimber sale - 50 Ac. 1990". The 5-year re-certification requirement often was simply the forester filling out about half of the same certification form that got you the designation in the first place and turning it in.  No required visit to the property, no required update of the management plan. Now standards are higher.  As Tree Farms come up for their required 5 year re-certification, they require an on-site visit, the property owner has to sign the form, a separate written forest management plan that addresses Best Management Practices, herbicide use, scenic value, and several other things has to be in place, you have to be actively following the management plan.  The older Tree Farms that don't meet these new requirements are de-certified.  Tree Farm Inspectors now have to go through a training program and become a certifed inspector.  Yes, all those can be abused and all those can be questioned as to their benefit.

So the benefits that I see of being a Tree Farm: it's a reward that recognizes that you are doing a good job managing your property; pride, as Magicman says; your pulpwood and sawtimber are now Certified Wood which might get you higher prices when you sell your trees; the magazine; networking with other Tree Farms at conventions, workshops, etc.  If you don't feel that some of these are real benefits, then they are not benefits for you. The only direct monetary benefit; a possible increase in the money you get from a timber sale. No tax breaks, nothing else.



Newly Re-certified Tree Farm in Virginia with new sign.

[woodtroll]

Tree Farmer was in place way before certification. It was started by Weyerhaeuser, to help the non industry land. In other words not mill ground but ground like Magicman has.
And yes, we should all take pride in our land. I take a great deal of pride in the advise I give to the landowners I help and the management I do on our ground.
I want forest owners to achieve the best their forest can do. I do not want to waste their time or money with something that may not benefit them.
I want to know it is worth while before I get put in a position to promote something (and if it costs, that mean I will have to sell it).

[Phorester]

WOODTROLL, as a service forester dealing with private landowners for over 30 years, here's some of the things I like about the Tree Farm System;

It's another way to promote good forest management.  Occasionally somebody will come into my office and want "one of those Tree Farm signs".  I then have the opportunity to talk to him about managing his woods.

The magazine has good info for a private forestland landowner on forestry, forest tax, wildlife, timber theft, and other property management issues.

With the advent of Forest Certification, the ATF is now recognized as one of those.  It is about the only one that doesn't put restrictions on a landowner for doing the more "controversial" practices like clearcutting, herbicide applications.  So it allows the landowner to use every tool in his forestry toolbox for proper management and still qualify as a Certified Forest.  

In my area, the landowner gets paid more for his pulpwood if he is a Tree Farmer.  It's considered Certified Wood.

No extra cost to become a certified Tree Farm.  It's a very simple and quick process. Some other certified systems can cost thousands of dollars and take a long time to put into place.

Costs:  Depends on how these are intrepeted; the cost of the land, which one person who came into my office wanting one of "those signs" and only had 5 acres; "you mean I gotta buy another 5 acres of land just to get a sign?"    To me this is not really a cost that applies to becoming a Tree Farm, but he thought it was.

A landowner needs a written forest management plan to qualify as a Tree Farm, and rarely are these free today. So if he doesn't already have one, he has to pay. But to me this is like buying the land; can it really be considered a cost of becoming a Tree Farmer, since you can have a management plan and not be a Tree Farmer.

The "cost" of having to do a few management practices to qualify.  But if commercial sales are done; pulpwood, sawtimber, this is of course income.
 

Just my 2 cents.  Some foresters like it, some don't.  

[SwampDonkey]

Even if the owner doesn't pay for the plan, I assume the government is doing them. So it's not free. Or, the consulting forester  is using it as a tool where there is a trade off. Maybe a plan is written for free, but the forester can offset his costs for an additional service. Then that leads to the idea of the fox sleeping with the chickens. But, then again he doesn't have to be the logger, so that could nullify that concern. I can see a another way, maybe the mill pays for it, but you sell some product to that mill on some type of arrangement. But, how long does the mill have to wait? I think in Nova Scotia some mills contribute some funds in a pot held by an association (it has been done here in NB also). It is based on volume of wood sales to their mill. Then maybe if you want the woodlot certified the association does it as a third party.