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Aitkin County SWCD In 2005, the Aitkin County Soil & Water Conservation
District (SWCD) joined a project to increase forest
certification opportunities for private woodland owners in North
Central Minnesota. The potential benefits of participating are
increased assurance that forest management is compatible with
widely recognized measures of responsible forestry, the
potential for unique marketing opportunities, and access to more
information and expertise about forest stewardship. As part of this project, the SWCD established a “group certification” program for interested Aitkin County woodland owners. By participating in a group certification program, landowners are able to have their forests certified at a lower cost than if they were to become certified individually. The program is entirely voluntary and no one is required to participate. Landowners who volunteer to participate will need to follow their Stewardship Plan and make their property available if it is selected as one of the sites to be visited during the certification assessment. Landowners with at least 10 acres of forestland in Aitkin County are eligible for the program. To qualify for certification landowners should have a forest stewardship plan. The SWCD can develop this plan and help landowners identify management activities that will meet their goals for wildlife, recreation, water quality, forestry, and other objectives. Certification is entirely voluntary and landowners often have many different reasons for choosing to participate. Some landowners are interested in the marketing benefits, some landowners want to improve their management for wildlife and other objectives, and some landowners like the extra assistance from the forester in implementing their management plan. The first group of landowners to be certified through
the SWCD project included a dozen properties and approximately
1,500 acres of forestland. The group now consists of 21
landowners with almost 3,000 acres. The project has been supported by funding from the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resource Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative Commission on Minnesota Resources and a Conservation Innovation Grant from the Natural Resources Conservation Service-USDA. If you own woodland property in Aitkin County and would like to know more, contact Dennis Thompson at (218) 927-6565.
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