Forestry Certification Training for Agency Field Staff

Project Overview

EW10-016
Project Type: Professional Development Program
Funds awarded in 2010: $48,000.00
Projected End Date: 12/31/2012
Region: Western
State: Washington
Principal Investigator:
Lindsay Malone
Northwest Natural Resource Group

Annual Reports

Commodities

  • Additional Plants: trees

Practices

  • Crop Production: forestry
  • Education and Training: networking, workshop, technical assistance
  • Farm Business Management: new enterprise development, value added
  • Natural Resources/Environment: biodiversity, habitat enhancement, wildlife
  • Production Systems: holistic management
  • Sustainable Communities: sustainability measures

    Abstract:

    Northwest Natural Resource Group (NNRG) reached out to more than 111 forestry professionals and landowners through the “Forestry Training for Agency Field Staff” project funded by Western SARE. During the project period, NNRG added 26 Forest Stewardship Council-TM (FSC®)-certified forest members representing 112,000 acres to its Northwest Certified Forestry program. NNRG hosted six workshops across Western Washington and Northwest Oregon from March 2011 to March 2013. Feedback from workshop participants indicated an overall increase in knowledge and understanding of FSC management standards, assessment procedures, Chain-of-custody policies and current markets for certified wood products.

    Project objectives:

    At the outset of this project, NNRG intended: 1) to increase knowledge and ability of 60-90 forestry professionals to provide technical assistance on FSC certification, 2) inform an additional 200 landowners about FSC certification through workshop-trained participants, 3) enroll 50 new FSC-certified landowners into NNRG’s Northwest Certified Forestry program within the project period, and 4) focus on 25 landowners selling wood products into the certified market.

    Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture or SARE.