This stewardship program operates under the Trust to Conserve Northeast Forestlands. To learn more about the Trust, click here.
Maine was the first place in the world with a point-of-harvest Master Logger Certification (MLC) program, offering independent third party certification of logging companies' harvesting practices. The certification system is built around standards that have been cross-referenced to all of the world's major green certification systems, that have been adopted by several other North American states and Canadian provinces, and that have been awarded international recognition by receiving the world’s first SmartLogging certificate from the Rainforest Alliance’s SmartWood program. On October 1, 2007 the Maine MLC program and the Southern New England MLC program combined efforts to bring the Northeast Master Logger Certification Program (NEMLC) to loggers in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont and New York.
To compete successfully in a global marketplace, we believe that Northeastern harvesting companies and other forest professionals must demonstrate a world standard for economic AND environmental performance. To do this, a profession's essential practices must be defined and each company certified to exemplary standards. These standards must be based on performance in the forest. Once that performance is recognized, harvesting companies can move forward as equal partners with others to ensure economic viability for all of the rural Northeast.
In 2005, the NEMLC program was recognized by the Rainforest Alliance's SmartWood program with the first ever SmartLogging certificate. This certificate represents an independent global recognition of the integrity of the Master Logger standard. The program has also been recognized as a source of responsibly harvested forest products throughout the forest products industry and has achieved the FSC standard for Controlled Wood and for Chain of Custody when Master Logger harvests are conducted on FSC-certified land.The concept of NEMLC is based on a common vision for the rural communities and forest resources of the Northeast. It is built around nine goals to help guide Northeast Master Loggers in their work: Document Harvest Planning, Protect Water Quality, Maintain Soil Productivity, Sustain Forest Ecosystems, Manage Forest Aesthetics, Ensure Workplace Safety, Demonstrate Continuous Improvement, Ensure Business Viability and Uphold Certificate Integrity. There are detailed harvest responsibilities with explicit performance standards under each goal.
While many NEMLC companies are large logging contractors, many are also small, independent sole proprietors, and together they represent all areas of the Northeastern states. NEMLC certification addresses the harvesting company, and their practices, as a whole.
The process begins with a company interview, where the candidate company is oriented tot eh NEMLC standard and the concept of third party certification and the company ahs the opportunity to sketch out a profile of their history, current configuration, professional ethics, strategies for continuous improvement and business goals. Field verifiers then visit actual harvest sites to determine whether candidates for Northeast Master Logger Certification are meeting and exceeding the standards that are required for certification. Their findings are submitted to an independent national board that makes the final decision on whether a company will be certified.
To remain a Northeast Master Logger, each company must be recertified regularly, based on an assessment conducted by the independent NEMLC Certification Board. There are also random audits between recertifications, a continuous improvement process for upgrading skills within the company, and partnership with other forest professionals and their associations.