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Residents' Committee to Protect the Adirondacks

FSC Sustainable Forestry Certification in the Adirondack Park through the Residents’ Committee to Protect the Adirondacks

To download the RCPA Sustainable Forestry Program brochure in Adobe Acrobat PDF format, click here

Introduction

The Adirondack Park Sustainable Forestry Project is a program of the Residents’ Committee to Protect the Adirondacks (RCPA) that provides Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification for well-managed forests, works to organize certified landowners for marketing certified wood, and assists landowners with the long-term stewardship of forests in the Adirondack Park. This document is designed to introduce the reader to the process of attaining FSC certification by enrolling in the RCPA’s Sustainable Forestry Project which manages certified forestlands for the long-term. A series of commonly asked questions and answers is provided at the end of this document.

The Residents’ Committee to Protect the Adirondacks (RCPA) is an IRS-approved, not-for-profit organization dedicated to the stewardship and protection of the natural environment and human communities of the Adirondack Park. The RCPA pursues this mission through grassroots organizing, research, advocacy, sustainable forestry, education, and legal action. The RCPA has 3,000 member households and maintains its headquarters in North Creek, on the Hudson River in the central Adirondacks. The RCPA has four employees, including a staff forester.

The forest resources of the Adirondacks are immense, nearly six million acres, of which 2.7 million acres is New York State Forest Preserve, and cannot be managed for forest products. Most of the remaining 3.3 million acres is in private ownership, largely owned by forest industries and non-industrial private estates. Yet one million acres can be classified as small non-industrial private forest woodlots. Although there are public and private foresters working with a limited number of these lands, there was need to develop a program for improving management of the small woodlots, and eventually seeking certification of their operations. The Adirondack Park Sustainable Forestry Project was launched in 1999.

In April 2002, the RCPA was certified as a SmartWood Forest Manager (FSC certificate number: SW-FM/COC-201). This means that the RCPA is now certified to provide FSC certification to qualifying lands in the Adirondack Park and that wood harvested from these lands is FSC-certified. The RCPA will undergo annual "audits" and an "assessment" every five years by a team of independent investigators to ensure that the forest properties in the RCPA’s certified pool are being managed according to the FSC Principles and Criteria. The RCPA is the first organization in New York to be certified by SmartWood. A copy of the SmartWood’s Assessment Report and contract with the RCPA is available in the RCPA office or from SmartWood at its Richmond, Vermont office, and on the RCPA website (www.adirondackresidents.org/Library/FSCCompliance.pdf).

To date the RCPA manages a certified pool of thirteen landowners, with over 6,000 acres. These lands are in Essex and Warren Counties, and range in size from 60 to 3,000 acres.

What is Forestry?

The European practice of forestry was introduced in the United States over one hundred years ago in an effort to offer an alternative to the heavy, destructive logging that swept across this country from the time of European settlement through the industrial revolution. The practice of forestry that was imported from Europe was developed with a strong land ethic in the shadow of scarcity, an element lacking in the developing industrial culture in the United States. Forestry in the United States was first practiced on large properties often owned by the nation’s most wealthy families. In the Adirondacks, Bernard Fernow, a Prussian trained forester, developed management plans for the Adirondack League Club, and later brought his teachings to the Cornell School of Forestry which had an experimental forest near Tupper Lake. The first formally-trained forester from the United States was Gifford Pinchot, who also worked for the Adirondack League Club, as well as the Vanderbilt-Whitneys and Webb families on estates in the Adirondacks.

The concept of early American forestry was based on two principles:

  1. The Principle of Sustension, or sustained yield, which addresses regulating the amount of wood cut from managed lands with regard to growth; and,
  2. The Principle of Silviculture, which is concerned with how the forest is cut, and the tending of forest stands to produce wood, and also to care for the forest ecosystem, its regeneration, productivity, and wholeness.

The practice of forestry is built upon selected cutting, long-term objectives, and increasing the value of a forest tract, but forestry ran into difficulties as a practice to replace exploitive logging. Forestry can easily be confused with what it is designed to replace, because both forestry and unregulated harvesting involve cutting trees. Forestry can also suffer from a lack of an economic justification because a long-term financial commitment is required which increases the risk of economic loss due to damage from insects, disease, rot, theft, storms, fire, and changing markets. The industrial revolution used wood as a raw material for production and for fuel. Later, oil, gas, coal and electricity replaced most wood-use as fuel and took the pressure off of the forest, but this also reduced the attention that forest management received because the rebounding wood supply grew quickly, although without the improved wood quality associated with silviculture.

 

What is Forest Certification?

Late in the 1980s, the most recent aspect of the forest certification movement was initiated as a result of European consumers boycotting the use of imported tropical hardwoods in light of concerns about tropical deforestation. The boycott was intended to reduce the demand for tropical hardwoods harvested in an exploitive way. However, the boycott had a negative effect on the enterprises harvesting timber through responsible forest management. Members of European environmental organizations and forest industries met to discuss the standards of practice for harvesting tropical hardwoods in an effort to distinguish environmentally-benign management and harvest techniques from those that were destructive. In 1993, in Switzerland, the World Wide Fund for Nature, now the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), along with other conservation organizations, helped to form the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) with its mission of developing a set of Principles and Criteria to apply to the management of forestland throughout the world. FSC was also charged with developing a process for an independent third party to evaluate these Principles and Criteria. If managed land passed the "assessment," it was certified. This meant recognition of good performance, and it has often meant a higher price for the products derived from certified land.

FSC certification provides a guarantee to the forestland owner that they are managing their lands in a way that protects a range of values including water quality, biological diversity, wildlife habitat, recreational opportunities, nutrient cycling and ecological regeneration. FSC certification also provides a guarantee to the consumer that the wood they are purchasing comes from well managed forests.

Today, FSC standards are used in the United States by two organizations that act as "certifying assessors": Smartwood of Richmond, Vermont, and Scientific Certification Systems of Oakland, California. Over 52 million acres have been FSC-certified worldwide and over 8 million acres have been FSC-certified in the United States. The RCPA chose to work with Smartwood to obtain FSC certification. Lands enrolled in RCPA’s Sustainable Forestry Project total over 6,000 acres. The RCPA anticipates certifying over 25,000 acres before the year 2011.

Forest Stewardship Council

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an international body that accredits certification organizations, such as SmartWood and Scientific Certification Systems, in order to guarantee the authenticity of their claims for well-managed forests. In all cases, the process of certification is initiated voluntarily by forestland owners and managers who request the services of a certified organization, such as the RCPA. The goal of the FSC is to promote environmentally responsible, socially beneficial, and economically viable management of the world’s forests by establishing a globally-recognized and respected set of Principles of Forest Stewardship.

The ten FSC Principles of Forest Stewardship are summarized below, and a full copy is available from the FSC or the RCPA. Criteria subtend each Principle and provide direction for its implementation. The ten Principles address the following:

  • Compliance with laws;
  • The legal right to own and produce timber;
  • Recognition and respect for the rights of indigenous peoples;
  • Economic and social well-being of local communities;
  • Conservation of the forest’s economic resources;
  • Protection of biological biodiversity;
  • A written management plan;
  • Regular monitoring;
  • Conservation of primary forests and well-developed secondary forests;
  • Management of plantations to alleviate pressures on natural forests.

FSC-certified organizations incorporate FSC Principles and Criteria in many nations, with many forest types, around the world. In the Northeast, two organizations are authorized certification organizations: SmartWood and Scientific Certification Systems. The RCPA has chosen to work with SmartWood.

SmartWood

SmartWood is a nonprofit, third party, FSC-accredited certifier. SmartWood awards three different types of FSC certification to forestry operations:

  1. Forest Manager/Resource Manager – organizations or independent foresters are certified that they provide forest management services according to FSC standards;
  2. Direct certification – SmartWood will directly certify a forestland or the lands of a specific landowner; and
  3. Chain-of-Custody – this program tracks and documents certified wood through every step of the timber extraction and manufacturing process in order to add FSC-brand value to products for consumers who seek assurance that the products they buy are FSC-certified.

In all cases, once an organization, forester, forestland owner, or business is certified, SmartWood assembles teams of trained independent experts to conduct annual audits and comprehensive 5-year assessments. All reporting by SmartWood on initial certification and on the audits and assessments are publicly available.

The RCPA was certified by SmartWood in April 2002 to provide FSC-certified forest management to forestland owners in the Adirondack Park.

What is the RCPA’s Role in FSC Certification?

In the Adirondack Park, forestland owners who seek to have their lands FSC certified have three choices. First, they can work directly with SmartWood, as some large forestland owners in the Adirondacks have done. These large landowners include: Domtar Specialty Fine Papers, owner of 105,000 acres in Clinton and Franklin Counties; Paul Smiths College, owner of 14,200 acres in Franklin County; and Finch, Pruyn & Company, owner of 135,000 acres in Washington, Saratoga, Hamilton, Fulton, and Essex Counties. Alternatively, a forestland owner could contact Scientific Certification Systems (SCS) of Oakland, California (www.scs1.com). Both SmartWood and SCS will provide bids to perform the FSC certification assessments. Third, forestland owners within the Adirondack Park can have the management of their lands FSC-certified by enrolling in the RCPA’s Sustainable Forestry Project. The costs of FSC certification are less for landowners when they enroll in the RCPA’s Sustainable Forestry Project than when lands are certified directly by SmartWood or SCS. The RCPA absorbs part of the cost of FSC certification as a part of its mission as an Adirondack environmental not-for-profit organization seeking to protect the public and private resources of the Adirondack Park, including the stewardship and protection of the natural environment and human communities of the Adirondack Park.

In 2002, the RCPA became officially certified as a SmartWood Forest Manager (SW-FM/COC-201) and is now certified to provide FSC certification to forest lands within the Park. The RCPA has three immediate roles in helping forestland owners who are interested in FSC certification for their lands:

  1. To provide guidance and support to the public, landowners, and consulting foresters in the development of management plans that lead to FSC certification of Adirondack forestlands.
  2. To manage the FSC certification process, maintain records and pertinent information, with particular attention paid to meeting the requirements of the annual SmartWood audits and 5-year assessments.
  3. To provide ongoing monitoring to assure that forestland owners who have received FSC certification through the RCPA are in compliance with their respective management plans.

The Process for Becoming FSC-Certified through the RCPA

To date, the RCPA has certified the forestlands of thirteen landowners, which include over 6,000 acres. Forestland owners who are interested in having their forestlands certified should follow the steps listed below.

1. State your goals for your forestlands. Write down your goals for your forest. You need to be specific and recognize that some goals preclude one another. Goals such as "improve wildlife habitat" are unattainable because they are too vague and because many species require habitats that exclude use by other species. Instead of generally improving wildlife habitat, one might want to improve the habitat of some species whose populations are declining. Having a forest management plan written for your property and having it implemented with the aid of a professional forester will help you attain your goals for your forest. A forester can mark administer your timber sales by marking the trees that should be removed in order to leave room for healthier trees instead of letting the logger select trees to be cut (the logger may be unaware of or unsympathetic towards your forest management goals). Employing the services of a professional forester will also help you attain the economic goals that you have for your forest by harvesting trees which are economically mature or are inhibiting the growth of more valuable trees. A forester can also assist you with enrolling in the state’s preferential forest tax law (480-a) program. Some landowners seek FSC certification as proof that they are practicing the highest standards of forestry. Other landowners seek FSC certification because they are not practicing forestry on their lands and seek assurance that an effort to manage their lands will provide a result that meets their goals and objectives.

2. Contact the RCPA staff forester. The RCPA forester is Jeremy Caggiano, who may be reached by telephone at 518-251-4257 Ext. 14, on the web at rcpa.jeremy@frontiernet.net, and by mail at P.O. Box 27, North Creek, NY 12853-0027. He will answer your questions and discuss the implications of forest management including your management goals and possible steps to realize them, condition of your boundary lines, selection of a forester and other matters. Jeremy, who joined RCPA in June, 2007, has been a private sector consultant since graduation with a B.S. in Forestry from University of Maine, Orono in 2002. He has since added professional certifications in wetland determination, soil hydrology, and fire behavior. Jeremy has practiced forestry throughout northern Maine, the inland northwest, and in New York State as an industrial forest technician, private sector consultant, and government contractor. He is an active member in the Society of American Foresters and New York Forest Owners Association. Prior to becoming the staff forester for the RCPA, Jeremy focused his energies as owner of Creekside Forestry Services, a forest consulting company, which provided its clients with the information and tools necessary to make ecologically sound management decisions. Jeremy lives in Jay with his wife Kristen and enjoys the incredible hiking and backpacking opportunities the Adirondacks provide.

3. Take a walk through your forest with the RCPA forester. The next step is to schedule a walk in your forest with the RCPA forester. This is often called a "walk and talk" and is a chance to discuss the management of your property according to your goals. If the landowner has been working with another forester, this other forester may also want to attend. If the landowner decides to pursue FSC certification through the RCPA, the landowner needs to have a forest management plan written. This can be done with the assistance of the RCPA forester, who can provide detailed direction for selecting a private consulting forester. The preparation of a forest management plan is a crucial step, because the details of the standards of FSC certification need to be addressed at all steps of planning and operations. A working relationship between the landowner and a forester is very important and the selection of the forester should be done with care and references.

4. Create a forest management plan. For forestland owners who decide to pursue FSC certification, the next step is to develop a management plan for the property. Preparing planning documents begins with discussing potential preliminary goals, then plotting the property boundaries on an aerial photo and delineating the different stands of trees (e.g., a northern hardwood stand, a spruce and fir swamp, a white pine and red oak stand). An inventory of the land is conducted to determine the condition of the forest, the tree species present, and the volumes and values of timber. An inventory system should gather environmental information such as geology, soils, water courses, natural communities, and wildlife habitat, as well as the traditional forestry data. After the inventory is complete, options can be explored and more permanent goals can be set. Goals address management issues such as aesthetics, ecology, wood growth, economics, water quality, and populations of plants and animals. The RCPA forester will write plans, for a modest fee, for landowners generally having 125 acres or less. The RCPA forester will work with a forestland owners and their consulting foresters to put together management plans that meet FSC principles and criteria.

5. Gather field data for an inventory. This inventory will be used to prepare a plan, which will provide direction for forest management activities for ten to fifteen years. For each stand of trees, there will be a description of the conditions, a recommended cutting system, also called a silvicultural system, and a timetable of work. Included in each plan will be a series of maps and informational charts. On an individual basis these plans can be developed to meet the standards of the Real Property Tax Law (480-a) Program and the U.S. Forest Service’s Forest Stewardship Program, which are administered by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. The 480-a program provides significant property tax relief to private forest owners, with 50 or more contiguous acres of productive forest, who wish to manage their property for the production of wood. The Forest Stewardship Program provides financial assistance to non-industrial private forest (NIPF) owners for forest management projects, including the writing of forest management plans. The plan can also provide information that is helpful when filing income tax returns.

6. Enroll in RCPA’s Sustainable Forestry Program. When a forest management plan is completed according to the standards set forth by SmartWood for meeting the FSC standards, the subject forest is eligible for enrollment in the RCPA’s Sustainable Forestry Project and for receiving FSC certification as a result of that enrollment. The plans are examined by Smartwood during the annual audits and 5-year assessments and Smartwood checks to make certain that the plans fully comply with FSC standards. During the annual audit, Smartwood may inspect and reinspect all plans and all lands enrolled in the RCPA’ Sustainable Forestry Project. Plans that have fallen out of compliance with or which initially fail to meet FSC standards must be corrected or the land must be withdrawn from FSC certification. FSC-certified lands where management diverges from the direction of the forest management plan may be stripped of their FSC certification. Smartwood will direct the RCPA in the manner in which a forest management plan or forest management actions must be corrected to retain FSC certification.

7. Pay Sustainable Forestry Project Fees. A landowner will be charged 3 of 4 fees for enrollment in the RCPA’s pool of certified lands:

1) Enrollment Fee. The RCPA will charge landowners who enroll in the RCPA’s Sustainable Forestry Project a $250 fee for each property enrolled.

2a) Plan Development Fee. The RCPA will charge landowners for whom it writes a forest management plan, a minimum of $250 for the development of the forest management plan. The RCPA will generally not write plans for properties greater than 125 acres. (Note: the price that the RCPA charges for writing a forest management plan is subject to negotiation with the landowner around issues of a landowner’s ability to pay, the size of the property, and any public funds supporting the creation of the management plan.)

OR

2b) Plan Review Fee. The RCPA will charge landowners who pay a consulting forester to write their forest management plan, a $0.25 per acre fee, up to a maximum of $400, for the cost of having the RCPA review the management plan and, if necessary, bringing the plan into compliance with FSC standards. A cost sheet is attached at the end of this document.

3) Audit Fee. The RCPA will charge landowners who enroll in the RCPA’s Sustainable Forestry Project, an annual fee of 15¢ to 25¢ per acre to cover the cost of the SmartWood annual audits and the 5-year assessments.

 

New York State Forest Tax Law Program: Real Property Tax Law, Section 480-a

Forest landowners who actively manage their forest to grow and sell wood and have more than 50 contiguous acres of productive timber land may enroll the land under Section 480-a of the New York State Real Property Tax Law, which has been in effect since 1974. The program offers significant property tax savings for landowners who are willing to adhere to a strict 10-year schedule of timber management, which may or may not include timber harvesting within the 10-year schedule. Each year that the Section 480-a exemption is filed for a given tract of land, an additional year of mandatory forest management is added to the schedule of timber management for that tract, so that there is always a 10-year schedule of work to be completed. If a landowner chooses not to refile for the exemption, the landowner must still adhere to the remainder of the schedule of timber management. After 9 consecutive years of not filing for the exemption, the schedule of timber management is exhausted and the landowner may withdraw from enrollment without penalty. In exchange for property tax savings, landowners who are enrolled under 480-a must not only adhere to the 10-year schedule of timber management, but also pay a 6% tax on the value of all harvested timber, as determined by the NYSDEC, to the treasurer of the county in which the property is located. This 6% tax is in addition to any state and federal taxes levied on income derived from the sale of timber. Penalties are severe for failing to adhere to the 10-year schedule, for converting enrolled land to a land use that excludes timber extraction, for failing to pay the 6% tax, or for failing to notify the NYSDEC and/or the county treasurer at least 30 days prior to harvesting timber. Enrolled landowners who fail to meet the conditions of the 480-a tax program must pay back the tax break that the program offered at a rate of 250% (500% for lands converted to non-forestry use) plus a 6% stumpage tax on any timber that would have been harvested within the 10-year schedule, plus interest penalties. Landowners need a management plan to make a formal application to the NYSDEC. A landowner should call the NYSDEC office that services their county for details regarding the 480-a program. To enroll lands in Clinton, Essex and Franklin Counties, contact the NYSDEC office in Ray Brook at (518) 897-1200. To enroll lands in Washington, Saratoga, and Warren Counties, contact the NYSDEC office in Warrensburg at (518) 623-3671. To enroll lands in Fulton and Hamilton Counties, contact the NYSDEC office in Northville at (518) 863-4545. To enroll lands in Saint Lawrence County, contact the NYSDEC office in Potsdam at (315) 386-4546. To enroll lands in Lewis and northern Herkimer Counties, contact the NYSDEC office in Lowville at (315) 376-3521. To enroll lands in southern Herkimer or Oneida Counties, contact the NYSDEC office in Herkimer at (315) 866-6330.

 

List of References from Forestland Owners FSC Certified by the RCPA

John Sullivan, 179 Ben Culver Road, Chestertown, New York 12817 (sullivan@netheaven.com)

Naomi Tannen and Joe Mahay, P. O. Box 114, Paradox, New York 12858 (joenaomi@bluemoo.net)

 

Questions and Answers about FSC Certification through the Residents’ Committee to Protect the Adirondacks

How will RCPA work with a private consulting forester or a public forester?

Although the RCPA forester may be able to conduct an inventory and then develop a forest management plan and map for a few landowners each year, most landowners will need to hire a private consulting forester to help them meet the certification standards. For landowners already working with a private consulting forester, an industrial Landowner Assistance Program (LAP) forester, or a DEC service forester, the RCPA forester will work to maintain the previously existing relationship, and assist in developing acceptable plans and maps as needed. The success of the RCPA Sustainable Forestry Project depends upon maintaining an FSC-certified "umbrella" organization from which to gather information and monitor work and a forming group of individual landowners with their own goals and ideas for their lands’ future. Maintaining relationships with foresters that have a history with both the forests and landowners is crucial.

How does a forest management plan for certification compare with a plan needed for the 480-a program?

The RCPA FSC-certification plan differs from the requirements for the plan required for the Real Property Tax Law, Section 480-a in some important ways. Some of the differences are listed in the table below.

 

480-a plan

FSC-certified forest management plan

Timber Management

Timber management is the main focus of the plan. Each tree species’ timber volume and value is calculated, projected, and continually reevaluated. The primary goal of the plan is to produce more and higher-quality wood. The plan includes a 15-year timeline of timber management activities which must be completed in each timber stand during the years indicated to maintain compliance with the 480-a program. The plan is updated every 5 years to make sure there will always be at least 10 years of scheduled activities to complete.

Timber is one of many aspects of the plan, but it may not be the most important aspect. Each tree species’ timber volume and value is calculated, but growth does not need to be projected, although it will be reevaluated during annual monitoring. The plan includes 15-year timelines for timber management activities, but the timelines are more general than those found in a 480-a plan and do not require strict adherence unless the main goal of the landowner is to maximize timber volume and value. The timelines are updated every 5 years.

Wetlands

Wetlands that have low or no timber productivity are noted on plan maps, and are excluded from the schedule of timber management activities. Wetlands with low or no timber productivity are not included in the acreage that is enrolled in 480-a tax relief. Consideration of wetlands management or protection is not mandatory.

Wetlands are identified, monitored, protected and considered when making management decisions. Potential wetlands which are not identified on wetlands maps are identified and treated as wetlands. Wetlands are included in the certified acreage whether they are forested or non-forested.

Wildlife

Wildlife management is addressed with regard to protecting threatened and endangered species that are known to exist on the enrolled property.

Wildlife management considers all species with potential habitat on or near the property addressed in the plan. Ongoing monitoring identifies wildlife populations and identifies wildlife use and impacts on the property.

Livestock

Livestock grazing is prohibited on lands enrolled in 480-a.

Livestock grazing is allowed unless enrolled in 480-a or restricted for another reason.

Personal use of wood.

Allows tax-free personal use of wood of up to 10 cords per enrolled tract per year. Personal use in excess of 10 cords is taxed by the county at 6% of the value of the wood.

Personal use of wood is allowed within biologically-sustainable limits unless enrolled in 480-a or restricted for another reason.

Soils

Addressed within the context of erosion and sediment control along forest roads.

Soil properties are mapped and discussed relative to tree growth and road building.

Geology

Addressed when the terrain makes areas inaccessible or inoperable and excludes these areas from timber extraction and 480-a enrollment.

Geological properties are mapped and discussed relative to tree growth and road building. Inaccessible or inoperable areas are still certified and monitored.

 

How long term is the commitment for a certification program?

The term of commitment for certification is determined by the landowner. For some it may be the duration of their ownership, for others they may desire to see certification continued with the next generation, and still others may desire to attempt to sell their property with the evidence that it meets FSC certification standards. Individual landowners who are certified by the RCPA may leave at will. If too many landowners exited at once, the program would be in jeopardy. The RCPA expects landowners to commit to a long-term participation in the certification program, although landowners will be free to leave if they are dissatisfied or for unforeseen reasons.

How much time is needed from a landowner?

A minimum of several hours for a walk in the woods with the RCPA forester is important to locate boundary lines, make a reconnaissance of the woods and discuss the certification program in light of the individual owner’s wishes and interests. There are also annual meetings with landowners and there is annual monitoring work to be done. In addition, there will be several organizational and informational meetings for everyone. On an individual basis, landowners may select to work with a forester to do inventory work. The amount of time needed to manage the land may vary, because some landowners do not take an active role in the management of their property and have a forester represent their interest and make decisions, while others may be involved in active management and be more familiar with their property.

What are the benefits of FSC certification for the landowner?

Two general benefits of FSC certification are often seen. First is that participation in the program will hold forest management activities on the property to a high standard; this will have a significant impact on how forestry is practiced on other private woodlands by setting a good example. The forestlands of the northeast can be categorized into three groups: private industrial ownerships, government ownerships and non-industrial private forests (NIPFs). Industrial lands are often producing maximum allowable timber harvests from the forest, and may even be harvested too quickly to preserve timber growth and quality. Timber harvests on government lands have been decreasing as more forest land is classified as wilderness, reserved forest, Forest Preserve, and as past harvests have led to a scarcity of high value wood on public lands due to poor management (e.g. clear cutting old growth forest.) On small private woodlots, the amount of wood available for harvest is increasing and these lands will become more important to our nation’s wood supply. This increased pressure can be used in two ways: as an economic driving force to allow good forestry to be realized or as a shortsighted opportunity to harvest timber in ways that leaves only low-quality trees in the forest. It is at this juncture that forestland owners find themselves. Forest owners can choose to pursue certified forestry and make a commitment to be part of an on-the-ground movement to advance high quality forestry. Being a part of this movement is a benefit.

A second benefit is that the forest products from certified lands may displace some non-FSC-certified wood from the marketplace. A consumer demand for FSC-certified wood products in a finite market place will put pressure on owners of non-FSC-certified lands to get certified and practice better forest management. The marketing of FSC-certified wood from small woodlots presents a complex problem. The RCPA is working with landowners and other organizations to develop a marketing strategy to promote the Adirondack wood to be harvested from FSC-certified forests. The promise of creating market share for FSC-certified products is becoming a reality. For example, Staples announced in January 2003 that they would be changing to selling only paper that has come from certified forests.

What are the income tax benefits for owners of forestland?

The income tax benefits to the landowner will be developed for each landowner on a case-by-case basis, as a part of the planning process. One aspect of the plan is to provide information about the volumes and values of the timber on each ownership. An example of the use of this information is the development of a depletion allowance to be used when timber is sold and an income must be reported to the Internal Revenue Service. The depletion allowance is used to represent the cost basis of the timber (the value of the timber the day it was bought) as a cost of doing business. It is expressed as a unit depletion allowance, such as $75 per thousand board feet (Mbf) where "$75" is the allowance and "Mbf" is the unit. The volume of wood inventoried can be "ungrown" using compound interest to a volume that would have been on the property at the date of purchase, and this prior volume is assigned a value per unit that would have been characteristic of the market conditions at that time. A woodlot with 100 Mbf in 2000 may have had 75 Mbf in 1985 when it was purchased, and a unit depletion allowance of $75 per Mbf. If logs are sold in 2004 for $105 per Mbf, then the depletion allowance, $75per Mbf, is subtracted from each Mbf as a cost from the gross income of $105 per Mbf, and the net income exposed to taxation is $30 per Mbf. Using a depletion allowance can be complicated and its utility will be discussed with every landowner interested in the certification program. Consulting foresters regularly prepare depletion allowances along with timber inventories.

There are other income tax implications such as depreciation and capital gains treatment. One of the first things to consider is whether the landowner wants to seek status as an ‘active’ business manager of the forest asset. If so, there are more deductions that may be taken, and yet the IRS criteria for "active" status must be met. Also, the information provided in the plan and inventory summary can be very useful when doing estate-planning work.

What are the benefits of the inventory system?

The benefits of the inventory system are that it provides a great deal of information to the landowner about the forest as a natural system and also as a business asset. The inventory system that will be used provides a way in which the RCPA can act as an umbrella organization which can monitor growth and yield of all the FSC-certified properties as a whole. Landowners enrolled in the Sustainable Forestry Project will have more opportunities to sell their wood because timber buyers will contact the RCPA because the RCPA knows who has the timber that the buyers are interested in obtaining.

What if I sell my property? Can I sell my certification?

If certified forestland is sold, the new landowner has the option to remain a member of the Sustainable Forestry Project or to withdraw. Unlike the Section 480-a program there is no lien filed against the property and there is no penalty for withdrawing from the program.

How flexible is the format of the forest management plan required for certification?

There will be a standard format for the forest management plans prepared by the RCPA forester. This format is designed to accommodate the individual landowner’s goals and interests, and provide direction for the management. A "canned" format is not laid over each property and each plan is developed for the individual landowner. There is flexibility in scheduling logging and silvicultural work and how these tasks are accomplished. Each plan will contain a schedule of work for a 15-year planning period and is most often broken into three 5-year blocks of time. If the landowner wishes, scheduling may be made more specific and outline the tasks that are to be done each year. Adjustments are often made in this scheduling to accommodate market trends and individual income needs. These adjustments are not compromises from an ideal, but rather a pragmatic way to get quality work done. High standards of silvicultural practice, such as requiring the hiring of foresters to mark trees and the long-term development of stands of high quality trees, are not flexible. Although different formats of forest management plans may be accepted, a certification assessment team will likely recommend that all plans meet the standard format.

 

Download other documents about FSC Sustainable Forestry Certification through the Residents' Committee to Protect the Adirondacks in PDF format.

Download a PDF version here of An Introduction to FSC Sustainable Forestry Certification in the Adirondack Park through the Residents’ Committee to Protect the Adirondacks (click here to download IntroFSC.pdf, 207K)

Documents for Consulting Foresters: download the Guidelines for Consulting Foresters (click here to download CFguidelines.pdf, 164K). Download the certified forest management plan outline in PDF format (click here to download FMPoutline.pdf, 114K). Download a MS-Word version of the certified forest management plan template (click here to download FMPtemplate.pdf, 3K).

The RCPA has developed an Annual report on Compliance with FSC Sustainable Forestry Certification. This includes a protocol for Resource manager to use to demonstrate compliance with Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Principles. (click here to download ComplianceReport.pdf, 1 MB)

 

Links:

Forest Stewardship Council: www.fscus.org
Smartwood, Inc.: www.smartwood.org
Forest Stewards Guild: www.foreststewardsguild.org
NYS GIS program - aerial photos: www.nysgis.state.ny.us
NY Forest Owners Association: www.nyfoa.org

 


Residents' Committee to Protect the Adirondacks
P.O. Box 27, Ordway Lane, North Creek, NY 12853-0027
Phone (518) 251-4257
Fax (518) 251-5068
email: rcpa@frontiernet.net

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