PERU, ME – Andy Irish, President, Irish Family Logging, a Master Logger Certified Company, completed his term as President of the American Loggers Council (ALC) in mid-October, marking the end to a successful year leading the national association and promoting the principles and standard of the Northeast Master Logger® Certification Program.
Ted Wright, Executive Director of the Trust to Conserve Northeast Forestlands (TCNEF) and the Master Logger program, said Irish has been dedicated to raising the bar of professionalism in the industry for many years and brought that commitment to his role as ALC President.
“A heartfelt thank you to Master Logger Andy Irish for his service as President of the ALC,” Wright said. “Andy has put in countless hours in over the years advocating for professional loggers across the country and here in the Northeast. Andy is also the Treasurer of the TCNEF board which oversees the Northeast Master Logger program and was part of the original cohort of Master Loggers in 2000. Being involved in the advocacy for loggers is a goal of the Master Logger standard. Thank you, Andy!”
Under Irish’s leadership, the ALC Annual Meeting held Oct. 4-6 in Newry, ME, included panels on competing forest certification standards and their value, as well as the importance of logger representation in the leadership and oversight of such programs.
Industry advocacy is an important performance indicator in the comprehensive Master Logger Certification standard. The standard was written to encourage loggers be participants in forest industry trade associations so they can be better informed about what’s happening around them and provide strength in numbers. Taking on industry advocacy positions is looked upon very highly from a certification perspective as it demonstrates engagement and deep commitment to the logging profession.
The Northeast Master Logger Certification Program was created in 2001 as the first in the world point-of-harvest certification program, offering independent third-party certification of logging companies’ harvesting practices. In 2003, the TCNEF took over administration of the program with the broader goal of “enhancing the health of working forest ecosystems through exceptional accountability” throughout the Northern Forest region, which includes New England and New York.
There are currently 135 Master Logger companies in the Northeast.
In addition to administering the Master Logger program, TCNEF administers an FSC®-certified group of family forest landowners throughout New England and New York. Under this arrangement forest landowners can inexpensively gain access to FSC® group certification. TCNEF is the administrative body that holds the FSC certificate and has overall responsibility for compliance with the FSC® Northeast Regional Standard.
TCNEF also administers an FSC®-certified group of Chain of Custody that provides an information trail, established and audited according to rules set by FSC, for Master Loggers and wood products companies to ensure that wood comes from certified forests.
For more information on the Master Logger program or TCNEF, contact Ted Wright at (207) 688-8195 opt. 2 or executivedirector@tcnef.org. Additional information is also available at masterloggercertification.com
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