APPALACHIAN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT has moved - our new address is
366 West Main St. Suite 400
Abingdon, VA. 24210
Ph: (276) 623-1121
Email: asd@eva.org

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" A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it does otherwise. "
Aldo Leopold

Sustainable Forestry and Wood Products

OUR LANDOWNER ASSISTANCE

Improving Forest Practices

We offer private forest landowners a type of land management centered around enhancing the long-term health and productivity of the forest while meeting the needs of the landowner. In order to promote practices which are sustainable, ASD provides landowners with education and technical assistance in forest management and works with loggers in implementing environmentally sensitive harvesting techniques.

Developing Standards

ASD's Standards of Sustainable Forest Management are a set of guidelines that direct both the planning and the implementation of our activities in the field. These Standards have been developed by our staff and a community advisory group, and have been approved by our Board of Directors. The Standards are written as a living document, subject to continuous evaluation and adaptation.

These Standards direct ASD's forestry staff:

Foremost, to protect and enhance the ecological integrity and vitality of the forested communities under consideration;
To meet the economic, social, aesthetic, and other needs and requirements of the forest landowner, so far as possible without abridging the first obligation;
To provide useful, certified sustainably-produced wood products for processing and distribution by ASD and related institutions. To see our complete Standards, click here.
Assisting Forest Landowners

Our services to landowners include:

Developing a long-term forest management plan.

This includes:

identification of the landowner's objectives,
inventory and description of forest resources,
development of management recommendations for meeting objectives.
Developing a timber harvest plan, if such harvest is desired by the landowner. This includes:

delineation of harvest area,
delineation of special management zones within harvest area,
designation of timber to be harvested,
delineation of skid trails, skid roads, haul roads, and landings.
Identifying and coordinating with loggers and overseeing the harvest operation. This includes:

identifying environmentally sensitive logging firms
development of a logging contract between landowner and logger,
notification to state forestry department of harvest operation,
periodic monitoring of harvest operation.

ASD's Standards of Sustainable Forest Management

Forest Landowner Frequently Asked Questions:

What is ASD?

Appalachian Sustainable Development is a not-for-profit community development organization committed to strengthening the health of the economy, the community, and the environment in Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee. Our service region includes Dickenson, Wise, Russell, Lee, Scott, and Washington counties of Virginia and Hancock, Hawkins, Sullivan, and Greene counties of Tennessee.

What is the Sustainable Forestry & Wood Products Program?

This program, a part of ASD, has two goals: to improve forest practices in the area and to encourage local processing of forest resources in order to add value and create jobs. This is accomplished through the assisting of private forest landowners and through the production of kiln dried lumber at our Sustainable Woods processing center in Castlewood, VA.

Why is ASD willing to help me?

Our goal of "improving forest practices in the area" is accomplished by working individually with forest landowners. It is through working with individual landowners, like yourself, that we are trying to accomplish this goal, acre by acre.

What will ASD do for me?

Initially, an ASD forester will provide a free consultation, walking through your property and discussing your goals for it. Upon agreeing to work with ASD, a management plan will be developed based on your goals and ASD's Standards for Sustainable Forest Management. If a timber harvest is warranted, a forester will assist you in setting up the sale, identifying suitable loggers for the job, and overseeing the sale. When ASD buys the logs from your property for processing at the "Sustainable Woods" processing facility, you will receive a premium above what is being paid locally for the various tree species. The wood that is sold to ASD will be marketed as wood harvested from sustainably managed forests.

What's in it for ASD?

Through the careful management of your property, and by buying the wood from a timber sale, ASD is accomplishing its two main objectives of promoting sustainable forestry and encouraging local processing of wood.

Will I give up any of my property rights?

You will not give up any of your property rights by signing a working agreement with ASD. The purpose of this agreement is to show your intention of managing your forestland for the long-term with ASD, but it is not legally binding.

What do I need to work with ASD?

Because of the time necessary to prepare the comprehensive management plan, a minimum of 10 acres is necessary to enroll it in the program. You must have an interest in long-term forest management.

What are my obligations?

Once you become a participant of ASD's Sustainable Forestry and Wood Product's program, it is expected that you make a good effort to follow the management prescriptions as outlined in the plan (which is based on your input). At the time of a harvest, it is expected that ASD would be the buyer of the wood.

Our Work With Loggers
Our Wood Products Sustainable Forestry main page