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Becoming a Certified Tree Farm - American Forest Foundation
Standards of Sustainability for Forest Certification On Private Lands
Standard 1: Ensuring Sustainable F123orests
The American Forest Foundation's (AFF) Standards of Sustainability promote the growing of
renewable forest resources on private lands while protecting environmental benefits and
increasing public understanding of all benefits of productive forestry.
Performance Measure 1.1
Qualified forest owners must comply with AFF's Standards of Sustainability. American Tree
Farm System (ATFS)'s volunteer network of accredited, qualified natural resource managers
will conduct field verification of landowner conformance.
Indicators 1.1.1
An accredited Tree Farm Inspector1 must inspect qualified properties to assure conformance
with AFF’s standards of sustainability.
Indicator 1.1.22
Tree Farm inspectors will audit certified properties every five years. Properties that fail to meet
AFF’s standards and guidelines will be decertified. [Landowners may seek review of
de-certification decisions through ATFS’s formal dispute resolution process.]
Standard 2: Compliance With Laws
Forest management complies with all relevant federal, state and local regulations and ordinances.
Performance Measure 2.1
Forest owners must comply with all relevant federal, state, county, and municipal laws and
regulations.
Indicator 2.1.1
Landowner affirms that he/she complies with all relevant laws and regulations, and that he/she
will correct conditions that led to adverse regulatory actions, if any.
Indicator 2.1.2
Landowner obtains advice from forestry consultants, public agency natural resource managers, or
contractors who are trained in, and familiar with, applicable laws, regulations and published Best
Management Practices for forestry.
Standard 3: Commitment to Practicing Sustainable Forestry
Forest owners demonstrate their commitment to sustainability by developing and implementing a
long-term forest management plan.
Performance Measure 3.1
Forest owners must have a written forest management plan consistent with the scale of forestry
operations of the property.
Indicator 3.1.13
Management plans include: title page; type of ownership (e.g., fee simple, limited partnership,
etc.); owners goals appropriate to the management objectives; tract map noting stands and
conditions, important features including special sites, and management recommendations that
address wood and fiber production, wildlife habitat, owner-designated fish, wildlife and plant
species if desired, environmental quality, and, if present and desired by the landowner,
recreational opportunities.
Indicator 3.1.2
Management plan is active, adaptive, and embodies the owners' current objectives, remains
appropriate for the land certified, and reflects the current state of knowledge about forestry and
natural resource management.
Performance Measure 3.24
Forest owners assure management activities are conducted in accordance with the management
plan.
Indicator 3.2.1
On-site visit, interviews, and records confirm management activities are being conducted in
accordance with the plan.
Standard 4: Reforestation
Forest owners provide timely restocking of desirable species of trees, compatible with regional
ecosystems on harvested areas and idle areas where tree-growing is the land use objective.
Performance Measure 4.1
Land must be reforested with natural seeding, sprouting, direct seeding, or reforestation with tree
seedlings.
Indicator 4.1.1
Harvested forest land must achieve satisfactory stocking levels reflecting the forest owner's
management objectives, within five years after harvest, or within a time interval as specified by
applicable regulation, whichever is shorter.
Standard 5: Air, Water and Soil Protection
Forestry practices maintain or enhance the environment, including air, water, soil, and site
quality.
Performance Measure 5.1
Forest owners must adhere to State Forestry Best Management Practices (BMPs) and comply
with all relevant forest practices act(s) and ordinances.
Indicator 5.1.1
Landowner affirms that he/she complies with all relevant laws and regulations, and that he/she
will remedy or has remedied any conditions that led to adverse regulatory actions, if any.
Indicator 5.1.2
Landowner must minimize disturbances within riparian zones.
Indicator 5.1.3
On-site visit confirms that landowner is conducting management activities in accordance with
BMPs and all relevant forest practices act[s] and ordinances.
Performance Measure 5.2
Application of forest chemicals must not exceed the levels necessary to achieve specific
management objectives.
Indicator 5.2.1
Chemicals are applied only when necessary to meet specific management objectives.
Indicator 5.2.2
Management plans consider integrated pest management as a preferred means of controlling
insect pests, pathogens, and vegetative competition.
Indicator 5.2.3
Chemicals are applied in accordance with EPA - approved labels and meet or exceed all human
health and environmental safety requirements on the label, and in local, state, and federal law.
Performance Measure 5.3
Where prescribed fire is used, the forest owner must plan appropriately for its application.
Indicator 5.3.1
Landowner affirms that if and when prescribed fire is used, it is conducted in accordance with the
owner's management plan and with state and local laws and regulations.
Indicator 5.3.2
On-site visit confirms prescribed fires, if used, were conducted in accordance with the
management plan and applicable laws and regulations.
Standard 6: Fish, Wildlife and Bio-diversity
Forest management activities contribute to the conservation of bio-diversity and maintain or
enhance habitat for native fish, wildlife, and plant species, with emphasis on natural plant and
animal communities and rare plants and animals.
Performance Measure 6.1
Landowners are encouraged to confer with their local natural resource agencies, state natural
resource heritage programs, or other knowledgeable sources about rare species or species of
concern that occur on their property.
Indicator 6.1.l
Where practical5, management plans consider and address opportunities to protect rare species
and special habitat features.
Indicator 6.1.26
The forest owner or forester responsible for developing the owner's management plan has made a
reasonable effort to locate and secure information that denotes the location of rare species or
species of concern. Appropriate sources of information include, but are not limited to county,
state and federal agencies, university and extension programs and local knowledge.
Performance Measure 6.2
Forest management activities must maintain or enhance habitat for owner's designated fish,
wildlife, and plant species as identified in the management plan
Indicator 6.2.1
Forest management activities must maintain or improve habitat for owner's target game and non-game
fish and wildlife species.
Standard 7: Forest Aesthetics
Forest management practices minimize negative visual impacts of forest activities.
Performance Measure 7.1
Landowners must manage their forest with concern for visual impacts, in a manner consistent
with size and scale of their forestry operations.
Indicator 7.1.1
On tracts of significant visual exposure, management plans and forest operations may include:
roadside buffers, access entry "dog-legs," limited harvests in certain areas, and adaptation of
other visual management techniques.
Standard 8: Protect Special Sites
Special sites are managed in a way that recognizes their unique characteristics.
Performance Measure 8.1
Forest management practices must recognize historical, biological, archaeological, cultural, and
geological sites of special interest.
Indicator 8.1.17
Management plan and forest operations identify and manage for special sites in a manner
consistent with forest owner's objectives, the unique features of the site, and the size and scale of
the property.
Indicator 8.1.28
The forest owner or forester responsible for developing the owner's management plan must make
a reasonable effort to locate and secure information that denotes the location of special faunal and
floral communities. Appropriate sources of information include, but are not limited to county,
state and federal agencies, university and extension programs and local knowledge.
Standard 9: Wood Fiber Harvest and Other Operations
Wood fiber harvests and other forest operations are conducted in accordance with the
management plan and with sensitivity to other forest values (e.g., water quality, regeneration,
wildlife habitat, bio-diversity, special sites, etc.).
Performance Measure 9.19
Landowners must comply with the management plan described in Standard Three (3).
Performance Measure 9.2
Landowners must adhere to all national, state, and local laws and regulations applicable to forest
management when conducting forest operations.
Indicator 9.2.1
In selecting contractors, landowners seek loggers, foresters, and other forest management
contractors who have completed recommended training and education programs offered in their
respective states.
Indicator 9.2.2
Loggers and contractors conducting wood fiber harvests and other forest management operations
carry required Workers Compensation and general liability insurance.
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