From Gregory.R.Lord at maine.gov Wed Nov 18 08:23:37 2009 From: Gregory.R.Lord at maine.gov (Lord, Gregory R.) Date: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:23:37 -0500 Subject: [certified_forest_products] Certified Forest Products - November 18, 2009 Message-ID: MAINE STATE FOREST ASSESSMENT SURVEY BEGINS The 2008 Farm Bill requires states to complete state forest assessments and resource strategies as a condition of receiving federal funds to support state forestry programs. The planning process has three components: 1 - Statewide Assessment of Forest Resources: provides an analysis of forest conditions and trends in the state and delineates priority rural and urban forest landscape areas. 2 - Statewide Forest Resource Strategy: provides long-term strategies for investing state, federal, and other resources to manage priority landscapes identified in the assessment, focusing where federal investment can most effectively stimulate or leverage desired action and engage multiple partners. 3 - Annual Report on Use of Funds: describes how federal funds were used to address the assessment and strategy, including the leveraging of funding and resources through partnerships, for any given fiscal year. Maine will integrate the Statewide Forest Resource Assessment and Strategy ("Assessment") process into its existing forest resource planning framework. The intent of Maine's Assessment is to identify key forest-related issues and priorities to support development of a long-term Resource Strategy specific to Maine's forest needs. The Assessment process will identify landscape areas where national, regional, and state resource issues and priorities converge. It will incorporate the best data available, work with stakeholders, and adequately consider other state assessments, plans, and priorities as relevant. It is hoped that the Assessment will provide valuable feedback in communicating forest-related issues, threats, and opportunities in the state. The Assessment will address the three national themes identified by the USDA Forest Service: 1 - Conserve Working Forest Lands: conserving and managing working forest landscapes for multiple values and uses. 2 - Protect Forests From Harm: protect forests from threats, including catastrophic storms, flooding, insect or disease outbreaks, and invasive species. 3 - Enhance Public Benefits from Trees and Forests: including air and water quality, soil conservation, biological diversity, carbon storage, and forest products, forestry-related jobs, production of renewable energy, and wildlife. We have set up a survey to find out more about the issues that concern Maine's forest stakeholders. We encourage you to take a few minutes - at the most five minutes - to complete our forest assessment survey. Your input will help us focus our efforts on the important issues facing Maine's forest resource. Please complete this survey no later than Tuesday, December 15, 2009. Survey link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=XtxxEQgk_2byixOR9f0ZLBiQ_3d_3d For more information about the State Forest Assessment and Strategies, please go to: http://www.maine.gov/doc/mfs/mfs/state_assessment/index.html Thanks. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mailman.informe.org/pipermail/certified_forest_products/attachments/20091118/82184e37/attachment.html From Gregory.R.Lord at maine.gov Tue Nov 24 09:27:53 2009 From: Gregory.R.Lord at maine.gov (Lord, Gregory R.) Date: Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:27:53 -0500 Subject: [certified_forest_products] Certified Forest Products - November 24, 2009 Message-ID: Family Forests Alliance Outlines National Strategy Outcomes of 2009 National Gathering Grow Capacity and Plans for Coordinated Expansion (New Gloucester, Maine) - Partners, supporters and organizers of the FSC Family Forests Alliance met in Flat Rock, North Carolina from November 4-6, 2009 to analyze developments in U.S. family forest certification and to deliberate plans for expanding and coordinating national efforts to provide improved access to FSC certification and related services to family forestland owners. ... Details of the national gathering proceedings and the 2010 work plan will be posted on FSC Family Forests Alliance website: http://www.familyforestsalliance.org More: http://www.ecofactory.com/press-release/family-forests-alliance-outlines -national-strategy-111709 Land Managers Expect the Benefits of Forest Certification to Increase Family Forests Alliance Releases Results of Forest Certification Research (New Gloucester, Maine) - A recent survey of FSC certified forestry operations found that most believe the financial benefits of certification with stay the same or increase over the next five years. Conducted by the FSC Family Forests Alliance, the research invited feedback from FSC Forest Management (FM) Certificate holders in the United States regarding their experiences and the perceived costs and benefits of FSC certification. There are 114 FSC certified forestry operations in the United States. The questionnaire also increases the understanding of group certification experiences and trends. More: http://www.dovetailinc.org/content/land-managers-expect-benefits-forest- certification-increase The report is found at: http://www.dovetailinc.org/files/FFASurveyResultsReport1009.pdf -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mailman.informe.org/pipermail/certified_forest_products/attachments/20091124/6736ef01/attachment.html