MAINE TREE FOUNDATION

SFI 2022 Forest Management Standards and Climate-Smart Forestry in
the Northeastern United States

Why This Project Matters

Climate change adversely affects biodiversity and water quality. This project will quantify climate change mitigation by researching the impact that implementing the SFI 2022 Forest Management Standard has on biodiversity and water quality. The Maine Timber Research and Environmental Education Foundation (Maine TREE) is conducting an in-depth literature review of relevant regional studies that shed light on the climate change risks threatening forests in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York. There is often a gap between climate change studies and landowner knowledge. By analyzing studies on climate change and forest management, this project will clearly communicate information to landowners and SFI-certified organizations in a way that allows it to be directly applied when making forest management decisions.

How the Project is Supporting Climate-Smart Forestry

Forests and forest products play a central role in the carbon cycle and, with proper management, can be one of the most effective nature-based solutions to the climate crisis. MAINE Tree will produce resources and data for landowners that will support sustainable, climate-smart forest management decisions. These accessible tools and data will enable landowners and land managers to maximize the impact of the SFI Climate-Smart Forestry Objective.

SFI’s Contribution

The SFI Conservation and Community Partnerships Grant Program is supporting this project. MAINE Tree is partnering with the Maine SFI Implementation Committee and encouraging conversations with the New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York SFI committees. This will enable Maine TREE to identify trends in what has been done or what is being done in terms of climate-smart forestry on SFI-certified woodlands across the Northeast. They will document these trends, as well as all their roles and responsibilities as they coordinate with SFI stakeholders and SFI committees across all four states.

How the Project Helps Forest Managers

This project will give SFI-certified landowners and managers access to the best scientific information to inform future climate-smart management decisions as they implement the SFI 2022 Forest Management Standards. The grant results will ultimately help forest managers manage tree species such as fir, spruce, beech, maple, pine, and birch in a changing climate.

A reference manual will inform how SFI practices may mitigate climate change risks within Northeastern forests, by investigating climate-smart forestry practices that may not be labeled as such within published scientific literature. By capturing this information this project will simultaneously identify the existing information gaps related to public understanding of climate-smart forestry and address these gaps in the manual. Maine TREE will also organize climate-smart forestry focused education sessions.

Partners

This partnership includes conservation NGO’s and forestry companies to assure forest health in the face of climate change. These partners include:

Project Lead: Maine TREE Foundation

Sustainable Forestry Initiative

University of Maine

Maine SFI Implementation Committee

New Hampshire SFI Implementation Committee

Vermont SFI Implementation Committee

New York SFI Implementation Committee

Related Information

Keeping Maine’s Forests: Preparing for the Carbon Market in Forests Certified to the SFI Standard.

SFI Is Working to Give Land Managers the Data They Need to Mitigate Climate Change: The Canadian Forest Carbon Assessment.

Learn how Manomet’s Climate Smart Land Network is helping landowners manage their land for climate resilience.

About the Maine TREE Foundation

Maine Timber Research and Environmental Education Foundation (Maine TREE), founded in 1989 by a group of dedicated timberland owners, forest products producers, tree farmers, and others interested in the Maine forest, is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization based in Augusta, Maine. Our Mission is to educate and advocate for the sustainable use of the forest and the ecological, economic, and social health of Maine’s forest community. We realize our mission through research and education programs for schools, government, media, and the public. Our partnerships with forest community members support programs for forest owners, woods workers, and recreational users. Our Vision is that the public values and supports Maine’s healthy forest ecosystems, forest professionals, scientific forest management, and sound public policies that sustain Maine’s forest-dependent people and communities.