One answer's not enough! Here are 10 reasons why: Enjoy the fun and fellowship of belonging to the community of forest owners who practice sustainable forestry! Display the iconic Wood-Water-Wildlife-Recreation sign to show how your family tree farm contributes to the well-being of your community! Receive visits from professional foresters who will offer advice on specific management strategies tailored to your forest! Incur no expense. All OTFS services are free of charge, and there are no dues for membership! The management plan you write for certification may be used to apply for many grants, and it provides a legacy roadmap for your family to follow! If you plan on harvesting timber, most mills’ purchase orders require you to note whether you are certified, and may offer you preferential treatment if you are! Provides you with a checklist of the International Sustainability Standards (PEFC) that you can apply to your forest property! Participate in the county, state, regional and national Tree Farmer of the Year Program! Opportunity to host tours of your property to share your expertise with other Tree Farmers and learn from them as well! Be part of a national organization where you are represented at the federal level on legislation that affects small woodland owners!

The steps to become an OTFS member are simple. There is no fee, but we do require an inspection of the forestland proposed for OTFS membership. As soon as a participating professional forester is available, you will be contacted to arrange a meeting on your property. At that meeting, you will need to: Have a written management plan. Show that sustainable forest practices are being applied on your forestland. If you currently do not have one or both of these, the contacting forester will advise and assist you in addressing these items. There is no cost for this service.

While you are working on applying stewardship principles to your forest management or developing and writing your management plan, you can still join OTFS as a Pioneer Tree Farm.