VFF Landbase
VFF currently has enrolled 6,489 acres
of FSC-certified forestlands in the VFF pool of well-managed forests.
Certified VFF parcels range in size from 26 acres to 1750 acres. Several
additional parcels are enrolled with Vermont Family Forests as non-certified
forestlands.
Enrolling Forestlands in VFF
There are two key factors
that prevent landowners from managing their forests in an ecologically
sustainable manner-lack of information on how to do so and financial constraints.
Simply put, the money landowners receive for selling their trees into
the conventional forestry market seldom covers the costs of ecological
management. VFF exists to counter those limitations and provide landowners
with the information and market opportunities to help them practice ecological
forest management and receive attractive financial returns for doing so.
As a landowner, you can take part in VFF in two ways, depending on your management objectives for your land.
- Non-Certified Enrollment: Some landowners simply
wish to manage their land in an ecologically sustainable manner
and to be part of a network of private landowners similarly managing
their forestlands. These landowners sign a forest
conservation agreement with VFF in which they agree with VFF's
mission and principles and agree to manage their lands in accordance
with VFF's 36-point forest
management checklist to the maximum practical extent. They receive
VFF's newsletters and reports and have access to workshops, landowner
gatherings, ecological forestry products, and one-on-one guidance
in achieving their forest management objectives.
Check out our guide
to non-certified enrollment --the process is very quick and
simple!
- Certified Enrollment: Some landowners additionally
wish to market their forest products in a way that promotes and
capitalizes on their ecological forest management. VFF offers these
landowners the opportunity to green-certify their lands through
a third-party, independent certifier (the Forest Stewardship Council)
and helps these landowners access markets for their wood products.
To certify their forestlands, landowners need to perform some basic
steps, including developing a forest
management plan and natural
communities map in accordance with VFF's templates, marking
property boundaries, and bringing their access
road network into compliance with Vermont's Acceptable Management
Practices. VFF is available to provide guidance at every stage in
this process. These landowners sign a memorandum
of agreement with VFF that details the responsibilities of both
parties.
Check
out our step-by-step
guide to certifying your forest
to understand the process
involved.
Step-by-Step Guide
to Certifying your Forest
1. Contact VFF for a site visit. VFF’s forester
will walk your land with you and assess the steps you need to take
in the forest to prepare for certification. (Some landowners need
to do little—others need to upgrade access roads to comply with
Vermont Acceptable Management Practices standards or paint boundaries.)
We will also review your management plan (if one exists) and assess
what additional information is needed to meet FSC and VFF requirements.
We charge $50/hour for this consultation, plus one-way drive time.
2. Assemble necessary components for certification. You’ll need a management plan and map that meet FSC/VFF requirements,
marked property boundaries, and access roads that meet Vermont Acceptable
Management Practices standards. (You’ll find a full description
of certification requirements on the sheet, What VFF Forest Certification
Requires.) You can either oversee this process yourself or can hire
VFF to oversee the process. VFF will sub-contract the work to appropriate
natural resource managers, for a fee of 15% of any contracted work.
Should you opt to oversee the process yourself, VFF will provide a
list of natural resource managers who have expressed interest in developing
VFF management plans and natural communities maps. You may wish to
work with a forester not on the list, or assemble your own management
plan and map, in which case we will provide you with the necessary
templates and information to guide the process.
3. Sign VFF’s Memorandum of Agreement for Certified
Forests and pay a $150 initial enrollment fee. As part of
this enrollment fee, you will receive VFF’s metal “Forest
Steward” sign for your property. Thereafter, you will pay a
$25 annual fee to contribute to the annual Forest Stewardship Council
audit of VFF certified forests.
If you are interested in or have questions
about
enrolling your forestlands with VFF, please contact
us.
