Forest Certification Test Project on the Allegheny National Forest

Evaluation - June 12-16, 2006

Report – July 15, 2007

Experience from the test audit on the Allegheny NF

Why the Allegheny?

• Strong local interest and support for certified forests in Pennsylvania

• Active and controversial timber sale program

• A diverse and complex set of management issues to deal with

Pre-assessment Documentation

• Forest Plan• Forest Service Manual/Handbook

Direction• Programmatic Direction Documents• Monitoring and Evaluation Reports

Pre-Assessment Process

• Two-day discussion of resource management programs and processes

• Informal, with cross-section of resource managers and program leaders in attendance

• Designed to help guide the assessment team to the answers they needed

Management Aspects Reviewed in the Field

Type of Site # Sites visited

• Shelterwood 11• Thinning 5 • Salvage thinning 5• Salvage 2-age 2• Two-age (1st cut 3• Prescribed burn 2• Perimeter fencing 3• Pine planting 1• Herbicide application 2• Lop/scatter slash 2• Landings 9

Type of Site # Sites visited

• Skid Trails 9+

• Stand inclusions 3• Boundary lines 2 • Borrow pits 2• Hiking trails 3• Forest roads 9+• Oil and gas well heads and pads 4• Riparian buffer zone 4• Wildlife openings 2• Road/stream crossing 1• ATV trail 1

Oil/Gas Development

Private Oil & Gas

• Audit team struggled with how to access impacts from private oil & gas development (water quality, social, wildlife)

• Concluded it did not have an overriding influence on the forest at this time

• Concern is on balancing with other forest uses in the future

What were some of the findings on the ANF?

• NFS management meets or exceeds many FSC and SFI standards

• Logging contractors do not consistently fulfill safe guards built into the Timber Sale Contracts and are not state certified (CAR 2/06 & 7/06)

• The need to assess and manage the harvesting and monitoring of non-timber forest products (CAR 3/06)

• No protocol for assessing presence or monitoring to maintain attributes of High Conservation Value Forests on abutting forestlands (CAR 9/06 & 10/06)

• ANF guidelines for protecting riparian zones do not match FSC standard (CAR 4/06)

What did we learn?

• Our workforce is open to outside audit• Stakeholder contacts balanced the

interests of our concerned publics• It was comprehensive and expanded our

view on logger safety & HCVF on adjoining lands

• An adequate exchange with audit team occurred after field session – No disagreement with CAR’s