| | Center for Family Forests
AFF’s Center for Family Forests (CFF) will maintain, support, and mobilize a robust community of forest landowners – along with a diverse network of organizational partners – all committed to sustaining multi-generational stewardship.
Family forests are threatened by development and urban sprawl, invasive species, insects, diseases, wildfires, limited income, and reduced markets. Continued expansion of urban areas results in the fragmentation of forestland and increases the cost of owning forestland by families. Family forest landowners make decisions everyday whether to keep their lands as forests or to sell.
Addressing these threats and ensuring a future of healthy and growing forests depends on many forces and factors – some economic, some social, and some rooted in policy. Effective solutions will require multi-layered initiatives.
The American Tree Farm System,® (ATFS) the oldest and largest forest certification program in North America will continue to grow under this new Center. With more than 87,000 family forest landowners and more than 27.5 million acres in the program today, AFF will continue to serve those interests with education and outreach programs, advocacy activities
The CFF will deploy research based social marketing initiatives aimed at the next generation of forestland owners, work for public policies that will make it easier for families to keep their land, help families plan the future of their forests, and re-connect children, their parents, and communities to the forests that surround them.
|
