0134-A5
Philip Guillery and Kathryn Fernholz 1
The Community Forestry Resource Center (CFRC), a programme of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), is an outreach and technical assistance centre dedicated to supporting the long-term health and prosperity of forests, their owners and their communities. Since 1998, CFRC has supported forest landowners and managers interested in forming forestry cooperatives or associations that raise the standards of forest management and opportunities for small forest enterprises in their communities. As part of accomplishing these goals, the CFRC also works with consulting foresters, public forestry agencies and wood-product manufacturers and retailers to build connections between landowner goals and market incentives, including Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification. A key focus has been the development of new markets for the products that result from restoration forestry. Certification has played a significant role in providing access to and creating markets for less common species and lower grade forest products.
The Community Forestry Resource Center (CFRC) a program of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) has the mission of providing outreach and technical assistance in forestry to support the long-term health and prosperity of forests, their owners and their communities. As part of this mission, the CFRC has been involved with new efforts to assist landowners in the development of forestry cooperatives and landowner associations that focus on more than just economic returns to the forest owner.
A growing number of forest owners are concerned that many of the current timber management practices threaten the environmental well-being of forests and surrounding ecosystems, creating soil erosion, pesticide contamination of water supplies, depletion of biological diversity, negatively altered microclimates, and the rapid and sustained loss of wildlife habitat. Fortunately, there are important new innovations in forest management (Mladenoff, D., Pastor, J., 1993) that can protect water quality (Gregory, S.V. 1997), promote biodiversity (Maser, C. 1988), and increase available habitat for birds (Thompson, F.R.III. 1993), fish and other wildlife(Thomas, J.W. 1979) -- while at the same time providing reasonable economic returns to landowners.
The success of sustainable forestry in simultaneously producing a decent income from the land while protecting the environment can also bring great social benefits to surrounding communities. The new generation of forestry cooperatives and associations focused on sustainable forestry in turn help create opportunities for the development of local wood industries and incentives for more responsible forest management on private lands. The majority of these forestry groups committed to sustainable forestry are found in the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Iowa. However, the CFRC does provide outreach to a variety of similar groups that are developing in other regions of North America.
In the Central United States, including the states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin there are several important trends and ownership conditions that have helped support the evolution of the cooperatives and associations focused on sustainable forestry. These same conditions can also be found outside the region where similar groups are forming.
Firstly, the majority of forestland in the Central United States is owned by private, non-industrial landowners. While there are some significant areas of public forest ownership, including state, county, and federally managed lands, private forest lands supply an majority of the wood fiber and product supply. This trend is increasing with the harvest on public lands decreasing in recent years under public policy pressures. In addition, these private landowners are increasing in number, and the average ownership is decreasing in size, as more properties are subdivided each year. A 2002 survey of landowners in the region who are participants in the Forest Service's Stewardship Plan program, yielded some interesting results.
The Forest Service's Stewardship Plan is a program that assists private woodland owners with the development of a forest management or "stewardship" plan. Although the program varies slightly between states, it generally allows a landowner to have a private consultant or public forester develop a stewardship plan at no cost to the landowner or at a subsidized rate. Generally the stewardship plans are designed to address a wide variety of management options on the property and are not limited to only forested portions of the ownership. While stewardship plans provide an excellent first step for encouraging active management on an ownership, they often lack sufficient inventory and harvest planning detail to enable landowners to fully implement the recommendations. The 2002 survey of landowners from the central United States who have participated in the program provides some information about their opinions about this program and their goals they have as forest owners.
The majority of landowners included in the survey identify forest product harvesting as a low priority goal for their ownership. The survey identified "aesthetics and general recreation" as the respondents' number one reason for owning forest land while "income production" ranked third behind hunting (Baughman 2002). The majority of survey respondents indicated that they had a stewardship plan prepared for their property primarily out of a general interest in learning more about their ownership (Baughman 2002). Also, the landowners indicated that their preferred methods of learning about their forests are through hands-on events like field tours (Baughman 2002).
The findings of the survey helps explain why landowner associations and cooperatives dedicated to sustainable forestry and more ecologically-based management are taking shape in this region. These landowner groups often put a high priority on developing resources that will assist members in better meeting their diverse goals for their ownership. Few of the landowner groups emphasize timber harvesting and economic benefits as a sole or primary goal of the organization. There is fairly universal recognition among landowners that this sole focus is the source of many of the problems they are trying now to correct through their efforts in cooperation.
Also, the demand and interest in field tours and hands-on sources of information has been strongly demonstrated through the landowner groups. By far, the most popular workshop hosted by the various organizations has been chainsaw safety training. Landowners consistently remark that this type of information is exactly what they have been looking for and has helped them develop the tools and skills they want and need in order to be able to play a more active role in the management and tending of their forests. It is becoming increasingly clear that a number of private landowners are interested in being the primary caregiver in the forest management process.
One of the most challenging aspects of private forest land management in the Central United States is the ever changing and growing number and diversity of landowners. Due to a variety of factors, including population growth, economics, and social trends, many Americans are buying homes or second-homes in wooded parts of the region. The northern parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin are especially popular due to both the abundant forests and numerous lakes.
In the past, forest landowners were primarily people who lived and worked in the rural communities. Many were farmers or ranchers. Currently and increasingly, forest landowners are individuals from urban areas that vacation in the rural communities and forested areas or individuals that have recently moved out of urban areas due to retirement or other lifestyle changes. The growth in absentee forest ownership and "newcomers" to forest ownership has created new challenges for outreach and technical assistance providers.
With all these trends strengthening over time, several opportunities and needs have been identified. One opportunity that clearly engages all of these characteristics is the development of landowner cooperatives and associations.
Forest owner cooperation, whether as a co-op or association, consists of non-industrial, private forestland owners who work together to improve management practices on their land. In general, most landowner groups have between 30 to 200 members with woodlots ranging in size from 20 to 500 acres.
These groups are motivated by a variety of factors including a general interest in information sharing, joint marketing for improved economic returns, natural resource protection and management, and other social, economic and ecological values. Sometimes a tragic event such as a windstorm or other dramatic forest change have also created a spark that gets landowners talking about new ideas and ways of working together to improve the situation or play a stronger role in controlling the outcome.
All types of landowners interested in any or all of these benefits can and do get involved in landowner groups. Hunters interested in managing for wildlife, farmers looking to diversify income, absentee landowners searching for information, and foresters and loggers interested in working within their local community can be found in these groups. Early in the process, it is often the "risk-takers" and "early adopters" who break the trail, but as the group develops a mission statement, recruits membership and starts to show benefit to its members, the membership commonly diversifies to include all types of forest owners. The common denominator is that all members are interested in sustainable management for their forests.
Whether landowners organize as a cooperative or as an association, experience has shown that it is important for the group to clearly identify their purpose. By defining the mission, the group will also be able to determine which method of cooperation best fits their needs. For example, if a group is not interested in joint processing or marketing, it probably doesn't make sense to develop a co-op business. Regardless of which type of organization is being formed, there are some basic steps, including establishing a steering committee, initiating fund raising, incorporating as a legal entity, recruiting members, conducting a feasibility study, preparing a business plan, and hiring staff or personnel. The details for each step will depend on the type of group being formed (Cooperative Development Services et al, 2001).
Since 1998, CFRC has worked with forest landowners and managers interested in forming forestry cooperatives or associations and raising the forestry standards and opportunities for small forest enterprises in their communities. These groups can vary greatly depending on the specific issues and goals of their particular regions, but in general, the landowners groups aim to improve the ecology and economics of their ownerships through shared marketing efforts and creative educational approaches. Currently, the CFRC has working relationships with about 20 landowner groups with a collective membership of over 500 landowners owning over 50,000 acres.
The landowner groups generally have a goal of increasing the use of sustainable forest management on their ownerships and in their communities. Many groups struggle with defining this goal and being able to clearly explain it to members and potential members or co-op customers. To obtain a clear definition and help set an agreed upon standard of management, most of the forestry cooperatives have chosen to utilize forest certification. The cooperatives have generally chosen the standards of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) to define appropriate forest management for their members and to also help their products be identified in the marketplace. The reasons for choosing the FSC over other systems is that most of these groups look for a credible and high standard on which to base their management as well as having a direct connection to the market place through a label. FSC fits these desires of the groups. Each group has taken a slightly different approach to meeting their goals, and it is interesting to note the benefits as well as challenges in each model.
Some of the landowner groups emphasize processing and marketing services for members. This approach usually involves the co-op buying or leasing processing equipment and facilities. One of the challenges with this approach is the need for significant capital early in the development process. Without a large investment it can be difficult for the co-op to develop the capacity to provide the economic benefits many of the members expect. One example of a group following this model and is providing processing and marketing services is the Sustainable Woods Cooperative in Wisconsin (http://www.sustainablewoods.com ).
Other landowner groups have placed their emphasis on assisting members with management plan development and implementation. These groups may also provide some marketing assistance, but the co-op does not have the immediate goal of owning processing facilities. While this approach avoids costly early investments, it also lacks a clear method for increasing returns for landowners and the co-op. Some groups have adopted this low-capital approach as an initial strategy with the goal of adding value in a step-by-step process. In specific examples, groups are looking to develop a successful log sort yard before moving on to implementing a processing business or are partnering with other co-ops or existing businesses that already own processing equipment. An example of this model is the Headwaters Forestry Cooperative in Central Minnesota (http://www.headwatersforestrycoop.com/ ).
Finally, some landowner groups have chosen to develop as non-profit organizations rather than cooperatives and have a strong focus on member education and community relations. The Wisconsin Family Forests organization is an example of this approach (http://www.wisconsinfamilyforests.org ).
In each of these models, the groups have been organized and run primarily by the landowner members; however, some of these "landowners" are also ecologists, foresters, and loggers. All of the landowner groups have benefited from the support of private and public foresters in terms of technical assistance and advice in the development process. Some resource managers have helped these landowner groups develop by participating on the planning committees, providing services to members, and helping promote co-op membership to their clients.
As previously described many of the landowner groups are involved with forest product marketing and have chosen Forest Stewardship Council standards as a marketing tool and a guideline for their membership's forest management. Because of this the CFRC has also worked with consulting foresters, public forestry agencies, and wood product manufacturers and retailers to build connections between landowner goals and the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification. A focus has been the development of new markets for the products that result from restoration forestry. Certification has played a key role in helping forest cooperatives and small forest enterprises gain access to, and create markets for less common species and lower grade products.
In one example, FSC certified county and state lands in north-central Minnesota has assisted small forest product businesses to develop markets for certified low grade materials and is now assisting private landowners who are interested in forming a cooperative and getting certified as well so they can gain access to the market that the certified public lands have helped develop in their backyard.
One of CFRC's other certification related initiatives involves working to develop a model of group certification that is designed to reduce some of the hurdles for small, private landowners. This model, referred to as Umbrella Certification, expands the certified pool to include all landowners that are willing to work in partnership with CFRC to meet the certification standards. CFRC is also working to implement the GIS and land-based monitoring system that will be needed to support this system. This work is being accomplished through close partnerships with several of the landowner forestry cooperatives in the region.
In bringing together forest management and landowner goals, the principles of FSC certification are a useful tool in assuring that science and values work together. Certification has also been a useful tool to forest cooperatives and associations seeking a higher level of forest management and ways to communicate standards of responsible management to their members and outside customers. However, current limitations in certification for small landowners will continue to make it difficult for forest cooperatives and associations to use this tool to their full advantage. The CFRC continues to research, implement systems and share experiences to help make certification available to small forest enterprises forest owners as well as consumers.
Baughman, Melvin J., and Karen Updegraff. 2002. Landowner Survey of Forest Stewardship Plan Implementation, Final Report to the USDA Forest Service Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry. April 12, 2002, USDA Forest Service, Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry Project USDA-NA/99-0125-A1. University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN.
Cooperative Development Services, Community Forestry Resource Center, University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives. 2001. Balancing Ecology and Economics: A Start-up Guide for Forest Owner Cooperation.
Gregory, S.V. 1997. Riparian Management in the 21st Century. In Creating Forestry for the 21st Century, eds. K.A. Kohm and J.F. Franklin. 69-86. Washington, D.C.:Island Press.
Maser, C. 1988. The Redesigned Forest. R.E. Miles, San Pedro, California.
Mladenoff, D., Pastor, J., 1993. Sustainable Forest Ecosystems in the Northern Hardwood and Conifer Forest Region:Concepts and Management. In Defining Sustainable Forestry, eds. G.H. Aplet et al, 145-180. Washington, DC.: Island Press.
Thomas, J.W. 1979. Wildlife Habitats in Managed Forests. USDA Forest Service, Agriculture Handbook No. 553.
Thompson, F.R.III. 1993. Simulated Responses of a Forest-Interior Bird Population to Forest Management Options in Central Hardwood Forests of the Untied States. Conservation Biology 7:325-333.
1 Program director, Community Forestry Resource Center, The Forestry Program of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, 2105 First Ave South, Minneapolis, MN 55404 USA. [email protected]; Website: http://www.forestrycenter.org