Forest certification is a means for evaluating and confirming the quality of forest management against sets of agreed-upon standards. The University partnered with the Nature Conservancy (TNC) and is part of their Working Woodlands Program.
Because we are an educational institution, our focus on management is primarily focused on our educational mission not maximizing revenue. We do harvest timber commercially, and those harvests do generate revenue, but the goal of those harvests are focused on ecological and educational goals and the revenue is an appreciated byproduct that helps us better act as an example of how private landowners can sustainably manage their timber toward ecological goals.
In addition to FSC certification, the University has also had a portion of its oak woodlands restoration forestry operations audited and verified by a third party.
Preferred by Nature is an internationally recognized NGO that focuses on better land management worldwide. They review and observe land management and ecosystem restoration projects across the globe. Sewanee was proud to be a pilot project for their verification program in North America.
Our FSC certification documents can be view here.
Our restoration verification documents can be viewed here.
