About Us
Outreach and education are central to the Ohio Tree Farm mission of promoting the growing of renewable forest resources on private lands while protecting environmental benefits and increasing public understanding of all benefits of productive forestry.
The American Forest Foundation (AFF) sponsors the American Tree Farm System (ATFS) and supplies funding that helps support the activities of the Ohio Tree Farm Committee's (OTFC) efforts to carry out programs that attract, encourage and support Tree Farmers. The ATFS is the
oldest private woodland certification system in the USA (1941).
>> Visit the American Tree Farm System (ATFS)
The Ohio Tree Farm Program, organized in 1946, brings foresters, consultants
and government agency officials together with experienced Tree Farmers to apply the ATFS standards of sustainable forest management in Ohio. The OTFC plans and administers the Ohio Tree Farm
Program. The Ohio Forestry Association (OFA) and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry (DOF) are sponsors of the OTFC. The OFA provides administrative support and the
DOF provides forestry advice for the committee.
While each state Tree Farm program is self-governing, all work under the guidelines developed by ATFS's National Operating Committee (NOC). Most members of the NOC are Tree Farmers and ATFS
volunteers from across the country. They work with representatives of industry and state forestry organizations to set overall policy and assure the ATFS program meets the needs of forest landowners.
Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry provides a wide variety of assistance to forest owners, ranging from the development and implementation of forest management plans to help in dealing with insect and disease outbreaks. They can also
help woodland owners sign up for government sponsored cost-share and incentives programs, and provide references to private sector foresters.
>> Find your Ohio Service Forester
