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Is ATFS Certification for you or your landowners?

ATFS Certification - is it right for you?

ATFS has certification options to meet the forest certification needs of landowners, state agencies and organizations, and other natural resource organizations. All lands certified through ATFS may undergo a third-party certification audit to judge conformance to the AFF Standards of Sustainability.

  • State Tree Farm Programs - There are 42 active State Tree Farm Programs, 28 of which offer a pathway to third-party certification, and 14 of which recognize and affirm good stewardship of family forest lands but do not undergo third-party auditing. To find out if your state Tree Farm program offers a pathway to third-party certification visit https://treefarmsystem.org/atfsregions. 

Independent third-party certification assessments will be performed annually on a sample of states by accredited certification bodies under contract with ATFS. Landowners may be asked to participate in a third-party certification audit. ATFS national staff will ensure that these requests are processed through the State Tree Farm Programs, and that the volunteer inspecting foresters are encouraged to attend the audit visit, if so desired by the landowner. We hope that landowners and foresters will be excited to showcase their commendable commitment to sustainability.

The implementation of third-party certification assessments is essential for maintaining the credibility of the Tree Farm program. Tree Farmers should be prepared for the possibility they will be asked to participate in third-party assessments. An assessment visit is similar to a Tree Farm inspection, where the assessor will review the management plan and related documents and take a walk around the property to confirm the management follows the appropriate management plan.

  • Independently Managed Group programs- The Independently Managed Group (IMG) program was started in 2002 and currently we have 15 IMGs certifying 6 million acres on 52,000 properties.

    An IMG program is facilitated by a group entity who holds the certificate on behalf of members, determines procedures for admitting group members, and ensures group members' conformance to the Standards of Sustainability. 

  • Individual third-party certificates-  ATFS currently has a handful of landowners who hold individual third-party issued certificates. Lands covered by an individual third-party certificate are not included in the State Tree Farm programs or an Independently Managed Group program.