FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 24, 2003	Contact:Amanda Rudy 202.463.2442 arudy@forestfoundation.org

Washington, D.C. — The American Tree Farm System® (ATFS), announced today that 600,000 acres of forestlands owned by clients of F&W Forestry Services, Inc., in nine Southern states have been group certified as being managed in an environmentally-responsible and sustainable manner.

F&W Forestry Services, based in Albany, GA., is the first non-industrial forest management firm in the United States to have its landowner clients group certified by ATFS. The initial certification of the F&W group involves approximately 100 landowners owning approximately 600,000 acres of forestlands from Virginia to Texas. Participation involves a joint commitment by F&W and the landowner to manage according to the American Forest Foundation's (AFF) Standards of Sustainability. F&W expects the group to grow as additional clients become more familiar with the certification process and AFF's Standard.

Under the ATFS group certification process, forestlands are evaluated by a third-party auditor to determine if they are managed in accordance to the AFF Standards of Sustainability. AFF Standards call for participants to have forest management plans, reforest their lands after harvest, comply with state Best Management Practices (BMPs), protect special places, enhance wildlife habitat, use approved forest contractors, and otherwise be good managers of their forests. Upon successful completion of the review, forest owners are grouped under a single certificate.

Marshall Thomas, F&W President said: "ATFS certification provides environmental and other quality assurances to F&W clients and to purchasers of F&W managed timber sales. We chose ATFS certification because of its industry-wide recognition as a credible supporter and promoter of sustainable forestry," he said. "This program also offered us a cost effective way to extend the opportunity for certification to all our landowner clients."

John F. Godbee, Jr., F&W's Certification Manager, added: "AFF's standards were a natural extension of F&W's internal quality control procedures. Successfully completing a third-party audit of our adherence to these standards provided us with valuable feedback on our management systems, and provides assurance to our clients that their forests are managed to high standards."

"We're pleased to announce this significant step in our group certification program," said Bob Simpson, ATFS Director. "This pilot has shown us that there is a way to economically, efficiently, and credibly certify groups of small family forests and other non-industrial owners."

The Plum Line Company, a private third-party auditing firm, was contracted by ATFS, to perform the audit. Upon completion of the audit, The Plum Line recommended certification to ATFS.

Groups eligible for ATFS's group certification include a wide variety of forest management organizations such as forestry cooperatives, landowner assistance programs, or state forest stewardship programs and other landowner organizations that apply a consistent management program to its members. Individual landowners within the group (group members) voluntarily agree to manage their forests according to AFF's Standards of Sustainability, against which ATFS certifies. Group managers, like F&W, are responsible for ensuring that group members adhere to the standards.

Group certification allows individual forest landowners to benefit from the "economies of scale" of being certified as part of a larger group. The advantages of group certification include sharing information and the mutual support offered by a group, as well as efficiencies in implementing the standard and achieving certification by an independent auditor.

"Group certification gives us another tool to help ATFS accomplish its mission of getting more good forestry on more acres," Simpson said. "With group certification we now have a means to outreach to larger numbers of forest owners, certify their forest management and continue to regularly provide them with timely information regarding the practice of sustainable forestry."

For more information please contact Amanda Rudy, Communications Coordinator, 202.463.2442, Email arudy@forestfoundation.org or visit ATFS at www.treefarmsystem.org

ATFS promotes the sustainable management of forests through education and outreach to private landowners. Founded in 1941, ATFS covers 27 million acres of family owned forestland and has 65,000 certified Tree Farmer members who are committed to excellence in forest stewardship. Tree Farmers manage their forestlands for wood, water, wildlife and recreation with assistance from over 7,000 volunteer foresters. ATFS is a program of the American Forest Foundation, a nonprofit organization that works for healthy forests, quality environmental education and to help people make informed decisions about our communities and our world.