Publications
Pennsylvania SFI Implementation Committee: Bringing the Standard to Life
At the heart of the SFI community are SFI Implementation Committees (SICs). There are 35 SICs across the United States and Canada, with close to 1,000 volunteers. Their active presence on the ground is resulting in significant contributions to individual communities through activities such as training loggers and other resource professionals and sponsoring outreach to landowners on responsible forest management. The Pennsylvania SFI Implementation Committee was established in 1995 and extends the SFI Program’s reach by working to foster an appreciation of conservation and forest management throughout Pennsylvania. Learn more in this introductory brochure and directory.
2022 SFI Standard and Rules
The foundation of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) is the program standard. SFI Standards are based on principles that promote continual improvement in sustainable forest management practices. SFI sets standards for forest management and fiber sourcing, as well as chain-of-custody practices – all of which are third-party audited by accredited certification bodies. SFI-Certified Organizations must comply with all portions of the current SFI 2022 Standards.
Sustainable Forestry: A Guide for Pennsylvania Forest Landowners
Private forest landowners own 70% of Pennsylvania’s 17 million acres of forestland. Many of these landowners are unfamiliar with sustainable forest management practices. This guide is designed to summarize and direct forest landowners to information that can help them make informed, knowledgeable decisions about managing their forests in a way that meets their ownership goals, and the needs of the public, for today as well as future generations. This brochure is a valuable resource when speaking with forest owners to help guide them along the path of sustainable management. It replaces the PA SFI Implementation Committee Landowner Packets that had been distributed through our program for many years.
Guide to Professional Timber Harvester Training Program
The Pennsylvania SFI Implementation Committee has been operating the PA SFI Professional Timber Harvester Training Program since 1995. More than 7,000 individuals have participated in the program to date. Many landowners, foresters, and forest product mills operating in Pennsylvania require that their timber harvesters be SFI Trained. This guide outlines how an individual can become SFI Trained and details requirements of the program.
Forests with Exceptional Conservation Value (TRIFOLD)
Maintaining biodiversity at multiple levels is critically important to sustainable forestry. Forests with Exceptional Conservation Value (FECVs) are those that support rare plants, animals, or ecological communities. As a good steward of the land, it is important to be aware of resources designated as imperiled and critically imperiled. This publication provides an explanation of these resources and the means to identify their presence or potential impacts prior to conducting forest management activities.
Biodiversity and Forests with Exceptional Conservation Value (Full)
The Sustainable Forestry Initiative’s (SFI) certification standards take a practical and scientific approach to defining what sustainable forestry means. Those practices are extended beyond SFI certified forestlands through the SFI Fiber Sourcing Standard, which requires certificate holders to bolster responsible forestry on non-certified lands through a commitment to educational outreach. In particular, SFI’s 2022 Fiber Sourcing Standards place an increased emphasis on Biodiversity and Forests with Exceptional Conservation Value (FECV). The Standards related to FECVs are designed to identify and protect areas within forests that hold particular ecological significance. By doing so, the Standards help to maintain biodiversity, preserve critical habitats, and safeguard species that are most in need of protection and management interventions to ensure their survival.
Wildfire Prevention, Preparedness & Response; A Guide for Pennsylvania Loggers
Wildfires in Pennsylvania represent a threat to safety, forest resources, logging capital, and human infrastructure. Nearly all wildfires in Pennsylvania are caused by people. While logging operations are not frequently a major source of wildfires in our state, fires do occur on timber harvesting jobsites and have the potential to expand into larger fire incidences. Timber harvesters therefore have a responsibility to prioritize fire prevention and implement proactive measures that can help reduce the risk of wildfires and protect lives, property, and the environment. This publication provides resources to help logging companies to develop a comprehensive fire prevention program.
Report on the Status of Logger Training and Education (LT&E) Programs in 34 Forested U.S. States & 6 Canadian Provinces
This report provides summary information for logger training programs across the United States and Canada, including annual figures for actual and estimated training participation. The majority of these training programs are associated with or approved by SFI Implementation Committees. The report also details training requirements and program delivery for each state and province.
FACT SHEET: Pennsylvania's ACRE law and a Summary of Attorney General Positions on Timber Harvesting
Sometimes timber harvesting operations run into issues with unauthorized local ordinances. Pennsylvania Law recognizes and protects forestry as a beneficial land use. On July 6, 2005, Act 38 also known as “ACRE” (Agriculture, Communities and Rural Environment) went into effect to ensure that ordinances adopted by local governments to regulate normal agricultural operations (which includes forestry and timber harvesting) are not in violation of state law. Through ACRE, an owner or operator may request that the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) review a local ordinance that the owner or operator believes to be unauthorized. This fact sheet summarizes pertinent ACRE regulations and positions the Attorney General has taken on unauthorized local ordinances related to timber harvesting. Click here to learn more about ACRE.
Forest Management and Timber Harvesting in Pennsylvania - Information for Citizens and Local Government Officials
This publication provides background information about the impact of forest management and timber harvesting ordinances on private forests. The document begins with background information on Pennsylvania’s forests. Followed by a short overview of Pennsylvania’s Municipalities Planning Code. The next section introduces forest management basics, followed by a section describing benefits achieved through forest management. For those local governments considering timber harvesting ordinances, the next section offers reflective questions to guide meaningful discussions about the need for developing regulations.
Best Management Practices for Pennsylvania Forests
In 1993 the Pennsylvania Forest Issues Working Group (FIWG) developed this publication as a means of establishing minimal acceptable forest management guidelines that could be used and applied by landowners, loggers, foresters, and other natural resource professionals throughout Pennsylvania. These voluntary guidelines provide the fundamental basis for practicing sound and sustainable forest management in Pennsylvania.
Managing Timber to Promote Sustainable Forests
This publication provides material designed to help landowners, foresters, and loggers to assess the sustainability of a planned timber harvest. It includes methods for collecting overstory and understory data, inspecting these data, and assessing sustainability. Click here to learn more about TUSAF.
Forestry With Confidence
This publication is designed to help landowners examine their woodlands and answer the following questions: Am I getting all the benefits my woods can provide? Are my woods as healthy and valuable as I would like them to be? Am I taking advantage of the assistance available to me? With proper stewardship, woodlands can provide the kinds of things landowners own their woodlands for, including more wildlife viewing and hunting opportunities, increased timber income, and additional recreational opportunities.
Timber Sales: A Guide to Selling Timber
Timber harvesting is not a process entered into lightly. Harvests involve complex decisions across many issues, including ecology, forest operations, business, law, taxes, marketing, and negotiation. They have both short- and long-term consequences for you and the forest. This publication is a first step in helping landowners understand some of these consequences and how you, as a landowner, can ensure a successful timber sale.
Best Management Practices for Timber Harvest Operations
(DEP Doc# 3850-BK-DEP5577) The purpose of this publication is to assist timber harvesters to prepare and implement soil erosion and sediment control plans, and to work around streams and wetlands. It contains information on Best Management Practices for protecting water quality and Pennsylvania laws related to timber harvesting operations in and around waters of the Commonwealth. [REVISED JULY 2023]
Erosion and Sediment Pollution Control Program Manual
(DEP Doc# 363-2134-008) The purpose of this guidance is to inform those engaged in earth disturbance activities and in the preparation of Erosion and Sediment Control (E&S) Plans how to comply with regulations found at 25 Pa. Code Chapter 102. This guidance applies to all those engaged in the preparation of E&S Plans for earth disturbance activities in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. This manual lists various BMPs and design standards which are acceptable in Pennsylvania. BMPs, when designed according to these standards, and properly implemented and maintained, are expected to achieve the regulatory standard of minimizing the potential for accelerated erosion and sedimentation, and at the same time to protect, maintain, reclaim and restore water quality and existing and designated uses of surface waters.
What Will My Woods Look Like?
“What will my woods look like?” This is often one of the first questions that forest landowners ponder when considering forest management options that involve harvesting timber on their property. The visual aesthetics of their forest is important to them and the fear of how a harvest might alter the look of their woodlot can often hold them back from implementing necessary management practices. This pictorial resource helps forest landowners to see before and after examples of various silvicultural treatments utilized in Pennsylvania.
Threats to the Forest; Insects, Plants, and Diseases
This guide to common insects, plants, and diseases that threaten forests in Pennsylvania provides a useful overview of the environmental impacts of each threat, the species they affect, and recommended control methods. It serves as a helpful resource for identifying forest health issues that might be occurring in the woods you own or manage and can help direct control treatments.
Tips To Consider When Selling Your Timber
The timber on your land may well represent one of the largest financial transactions you’ll ever make. It is a complex undertaking that you must plan for in advance. Don’t make the mistake of selling your timber without first giving serious thought to what you’d like to do with your land in the future. The steps detailed in this brochure can go a long way toward ensuring that your timber sale will be painless and profitable.
How To Choose A Quality Logger
How you sell your trees, and select the professional contractors who do the harvesting, are important decisions. They can either perpetuate the many values of your forest virtually forever, or badly damage the land and imperil its ability to bring you future financial income and personal and aesthetic pleasure — the reasons you own the land in the first place. The purpose of this brochure is to help you act wisely while preparing for the harvest of your trees.
OSHA Logging Regulations - Final Rule
By many measures, Logging is the most hazardous industry in the United States, particularly the activity of manual felling. This document outlines OSHA recommended and required work practices designed to reduce logging hazards.
Is Working As A Logger For You?
Have you ever considered a career in the logging industry? Motivated and trainable entry-level woods workers are currently in high demand. This publication describes basic qualifications for logging employment, characterizes several logging configurations, and presents statements from employers about what to expect from employment in logging. It also provides a link to contacts who can connect motivated individuals to employers and training opportunities.
DEP Integrated Water Quality Report
The Pennsylvania Integrated Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment Report [Integrated Report – 305(b) and 303(d)] is a biennial report prepared by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) that assesses the quality of waters in Pennsylvania and identifies waters that are impaired for various reasons. The Integrated report demonstrates the effectiveness of state forestry BMPs taught by PA SFI and the overall negligible negative impact that timber harvesting (Silviculture Activities) has on water quality.
