Cooperating Foresters
What are Cooperating Foresters?
Cooperating Foresters are private consulting or private industry foresters that have received training from the Center for management and certification and are approved by the Center to work with forest landowners on the development of forest management plans. These foresters are trained on the specific standards to meet the Forest Stewardship Council® and the American Tree Farm System as well as the policies and procedures to maintain certification in the Center's group.
Why do I have to use one?
The Center utilizes Cooperating Foresters to reduce the cost of audits on potential group members. The Center assumes that by the use of a Cooperating Forester many of the requirements of certification have already been met. For example, when submitting a landowner's management plan to the Center it is assumed that a Cooperating Forester will have updated management plans to reflect searches of a reputable database for rare, threatened, and endangered species as well as archaeological sites. Cooperating Foresters will have already been trained on the specific type of forest stand treatments (timber harvests) that are permitted under the certification standards. By knowing ahead of time that the Cooperating Forester has completed these tasks the Center can reduce the cost in terms of auditing to the landowner by assuming compliance in these requirements.
Where are they?
A list of Cooperating Foresters is available. If you're interested in becoming a Cooperating Forester please contact the Forest Section Administrator here. Landowners interested in certification can inform their forester that they want to get their lands certified and encourage them to become a Cooperating Forester.
How much do they cost?
Cooperating Foresters are private individuals and firms and set their own rates for services. Cooperating Foresters are trained on the minimum requirements to meet certification and can give landowners cost estimates to prepare management plans, conduct inventories, and any other task to get certified. These payments and fees to Cooperating Foresters are separate and in addition to the fees to maintain membership in the group detailed in the Forest Management Section of the website.
How much does is cost to become a Cooperating Forester?
The only fee to foresters to become a Cooperating Forester is the cost to attend the training. A one-time fee of $150 per person or $500 for a company (maximum 5 attendees) is required to attend the training and become a Cooperating Forester. There are no future fees or payments from foresters. There will be future updates and trainings from the Center but they will be at minimal cost and the Center will attempt to make those either phone or web based. Please use the sign up to the left near the top of this web page.