Private Landowner Assistance Program - American Tree Farm System

American Tree Farm System

"Wood is a crop. Forestry is Tree Farming." — Gifford Pinchot, First chief of the USDA Forest Service.

The American Tree Farm system is an organized collection of private landowners interested in effectively managing their woodland properties. Founded in 1941, the ATFS consists of more than 27,500,000 acres (111,000 km2) of privately owned forest in 46 states. There are 4,400 volunteers who inspect the forest grounds and there are 87,000 family forest ownwers. The ATFS is primarily known for continuous wood and timber production but it also consists of many programs and committees that work to ensure the protection of wildlife habitats, watersheds, soil quality and recreation for communities. The habitat and resources that tree farms provided differ greatly based on their location and by the species of trees that are planted. Farms in the system attempt to maintain a healthy level of biodiversity by creating natural forest buffers, practicing sustainable harvesting techniques and by minimizing land fragmentation. Tree farm systems in each state is self governing and all work under specific guidelines developed by the ATFS’s National Operating Committee. The term tree farming was introduced in 1940 by linking the terms in an attempt to make it easier for the public to conceptualize that trees are renewable resources.