Catskill WoodNet members source their wood from over 700 private forestland owners active in the Watershed Agricultural Council's Forestry Program - including family-owned forests certified by the American Tree Farm System and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). New York City DEP lands and NYS DEC re-forestation and multi-use areas (dual certifed by SFI and FSC) also contribute to the overall wood resource.
Catskill WoodNet member companies also support comprehensive training programs for loggers and promote the Trained Logger Certification program to regional landowners. Landowners in the Catskills are practicing forestry under the guidance of a long-term
forest stewardship plan at over 5 times the national average for regions of similar size.*
*SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry Report on Forestland Parcelization in the NYC Watershed.
In the Catskills, over 250,000 acres of forestland are sustainably managed for superior water quality, wildlife habitat, recreation, and wood products.
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Through careful planning with Watershed Qualified Foresters, Catskill landowners manage their forestland as part of a working landscape providing raw materials to local mills that supply lumber to area carpenters and cabinetshops. From Boiceville to Brooklyn, woodworking artisans are also using watershed wood to craft a variety of home furnishings and other unique items. It is a strong economic model for a sustainable working landscape: local landowners providing raw materials to local wood products manufacturers that create jobs for local people. |
Sustainable forest management and farming are preferred land-uses in the watershed to offset the rising costs of landownership and discourage parcelization and subsequent development detrimental to watershed protection. This partnership of private landowners working in concert with public interests is supporting a viable local economy often against formidable pressures that can fragment the landscape and undermine the region’s rural character and bio-diversity. READ MORE>>>