FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 24, 2005	Contact:Brigitte Johnson, APR 202.463.5163 bjohnson@forestfoundation.org

Washington, D.C. – The American Tree Farm System® (ATFS) announced that Stora Enso North America (SENA) group organization successfully underwent an independent third party audit seeking ATFS Group Certification.  BVQI, the auditing firm, judged conformance to the American Forest Foundation’s 2004-2006 Standards of Sustainability and the Standard Operating Procedures for Group Organizations Group Managers and Group Members (SOP-01).  At the time of the audit, SENA’s group organization included 10 group members and 1,847 acres, all in Wisconsin. SENA anticipates steady and significant growth in their Group Organization.

ATFS group certification is the process of evaluating and certifying groups of forest owners under a single certificate.  Group certification allows individual forest landowners to benefit from the “economies of scale” of being 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.  

Stora Enso North America is the first group to complete certification outside of the ATFS pilot program.  They have formed a landowner assistance program and those landowners are the group members in the ATFS Group Organization. 

“The challenge we face at Stora Enso is to bring a credible forest certification system to smaller landowners.  ATFS’s Group Certification is a good fit for these private landowners,” said Mark Fries, Group Manager, SENA.
 
“We’re pleased with the successful progress of our ATFS Group Certification program,” said Bob Simpson, ATFS Director.  “Group certification continues to show us that there is a way to economically, efficiently, and credibly certify groups of small family forest owners.”

Eligible groups, as the ATFS program is currently developed, include forestry cooperatives, forestry associations, landowner assistance programs, as well as clients of forestry and consulting firms and state forest stewardship programs that apply a consistent management program to its members. Individual landowners within the group (group members) voluntarily agree to manage their forests according to the American Forest Foundation's Standards of Sustainability, against
which ATFS certifies. Group managers are responsible for ensuring that group members adhere to the standards.

“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 feed them timely and current information regarding practicing sustainable forestry.”

ATFS, a program of the American Forest Foundation, promotes the sustainable management of forests through education and outreach to private landowners.  Founded in 1941, ATFS certified members 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.

For more information please contact Brigitte Johnson, APR, Director of Communications, 202.463.5163, Email bjohnson@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 33 million acres of family owned forestland and has 51,000 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 4,000 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.