FSC-US has a new partner in helping to expand the success of FSC certification. “This Alliance offers tremendous breadth and a national level opportunity to work together and share resources to help make certification more efficient and effective for family forest owners,” said Ian Hanna of the Northwest Natural Resource Group and core organizer for the FSC Family Forests Alliance. The FSC Family Forests Alliance provides a national mechanism to bring together individuals and organizations committed to promoting responsible forest stewardship for family forests and pursuing certification and marketing through FSC standards. To date about half a million acres of family forestland in the United States have become FSC-certified. Although this is a significant accomplishment, it represents only a small fraction of the roughly 250 million acres of family forests in the country. “This ownership group is the largest in the country and is in many ways the most afflicted by poor management practices and under the greatest pressure to convert their forests to other land uses,” said Don Arnosti of the Community Forestry Resource Center and core organizer for the FSC Family Forests Alliance. [The Southern Forests Network is a founding member of the FSC Family Forests Alliance ]

News notes are courtesy of Southern Forests Network News Notes www.southernsustainableforests.org