Private forestry professionals were contracted to inspect Illinois Tree Farms that had not been inspected in over 10 years. American Tree Farm System (ATFS) policy is that Tree Farms should be inspected at least once every 10 years for compliance with the American Forest Foundation (AFF) Standards of Sustainability. The Illinois Tree Farm Program has historically relied on Illinois DNR Foresters to conduct these inspections. In recent years, however, the workload on IDNR Foresters has reduced their capacity to inspect tree farms resulting in a significant backlog of properties to be inspected. These inspections are a core component of ATFS as they help ensure that forest landowners have an up-to-date forest management plan that they are following, and inspections provide an opportunity for forest landowners to receive feedback and guidance from a forestry professional.
A total of 56 tree farms were inspected. Of these, 32 were recertified as compliant with ATFS requirements, collectively representing 2,800 acres of Illinois forest. Most of these landowners take pride in their tree farms and were appreciative of the opportunity to share and discuss their forest management activities. Several inspectors reported that they were also reinvigorated by the experience and wanted to continue inspecting more tree farm properties.