Timberland Management
STEWARDSHIP
TIR adheres to the principles of sustainable management on all of the timber properties under its management. We subscribe to a concept of forest stewardship that maintains biodiversity, productivity, regeneration, and fulfills pertinent ecological, economic, and social functions without causing harm to other ecosystems. TIR's management plans for individual stands as well as entire tracts comply fully with all state Best Management Practices (BMPs) to protect soil and water quality. We also follow sound conservation practices such as planting on the contour to prevent erosion, preserving wetlands, and protecting wildlife habitat.
We are members of the National Council for Air and Stream Improvement (NCASI), an independent non-profit research institute that focuses on environmental topics, such as streamside management guidelines, biodiversity and landscape ecology, silvicultural chemicals, and measures of sustainable forestry.
TIR is also a certified Group Organization of the American Tree Farm System (ATFS). The mission of Tree Farm is to promote the growth of renewable forest resources on private lands while protecting environmental benefits and increasing public understanding of all benefits of productive forestry. Certification of Tree Farms through the ATFS, with the oversight of the American Forest Foundation (AFF), is the oldest and largest voluntary, third-party verification process in the United States. Since 1941, ATFS has been certifying the practice of sustainable forestry. ATFS is recognized as a source of timber which has been produced by sustainable forest management practices. Tree Farm entered into a mutual recognition agreement with the American Forest & Paper Association's (AF&PA) Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) program in May 2000. In the agreement, SFI recognizes wood sourced from Tree Farms as certified, and vice versa. Tree Farm provides AF&PA member companies with a source of certified wood from non-industrial private forestlands. As such, wood procured from certified Tree Farms may be counted as part of a mill's SFI certified inventory.