A tree farm is a privately owned forest managed for timber production. The term tree farm is also used to refer to plantations and to tree nurseries. The American Tree Farm System (ATFS) is the oldest third party forest certification in the world.

The ATFS was established in 1941 in response to the need to protect forest resources on private lands, provide advice and assistance to forest owners and ensure the continued supply of wood and other forest products. ATFS has certified 24 million acres of privately owned forestland and over 90,000 family forest owners in 46 states. ATFS has been successful in helping forest owners protect water resources, enhance wildlife habitat and create recreational opportunities all while harvesting wood in sustainable ways.

Some ATFS certified forests are now in their third or fourth generation of sustainable harvests on the same land. The Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) endorsed ATFS in August of 2008 after an extensive assessment, meaning that ATFS wood meets an accepted international standard for “certified wood,” which may help sales in world markets. Only around 10% of the wood sold globally is from certified forests, but this is growing rapidly.

PEFC is by far the largest certification network, currently comprising thirty-five independent national forest certification programs with 510 million certified acres in the various programs. Among the countries with PEFC certified forests are such places as Canada, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Spain Brazil and Malaysia.

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