Verso Paper Corp.  will provide a $100,000 grant over two years to the Trust to Conserve Northeast Forestlands (TCNF) to expand participation in that organization’s Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) group forest certification program.

The program seeks to identify small, family forestland owners and to certify their lands to the FSC forest management standard.  The Verso grant will provide resources to expand the program throughout the six states currently covered under the group (Maine, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York and Vermont) with a goal of 100,000 additional acres certified after the first 12 months. 

“Opportunities to meet directly with landowners, educate them about certification and walk them through enrollment in the group process are critical to our ability to increase the number of FSC-certified acres here in the Northeast,” said John Gunn, director of forest stewardship at the TCNF.  “By enabling us to increase the Trust’s capacity, the Verso grant will allow us to significantly increase those opportunities.”