There are also a number of notable regional collaborations in the working forests and woodlands category.
• The Woods, Wildlife, and Warblers (WWW) program is a collaborative project among Audubon Vermont, New York Forest Owners Association, New York Tree Farm Program, and Vermont Woodlands Association that seeks to create and improve forest bird habitat. This is accomplished by providing forest owners with the education, tools, and resources they need to enhance and protect the health of forests. • The Central Appalachia Habitat Stewardship Program is another such example. It restores and sustains healthy forests, rivers, and streams that provide habitat for diverse native birds and aquatic populations. The program supports projects in various portions of the Appalachian region including Maryland, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. 4.3.4 Opportunities to Expand Market Presence In the working forests and woodlands category, there are also a number of programs that allow for expanded market presence for landowners. As with the other categories, these include various place-, product-, and practice-based certifications that give landowners commercial or marketing benefits. • Place-based certifications include the Forest Stewardship Council Federal Lands Certification and TreeCity USA certifications, which certify forest management practices and help communities manage and expand their public trees, respectively.
• Product- and practice-based certifications include programs that couple biodiversity
conservation practices with specialty products, as in the VT Bird Friendly Maple Syrup program and the Connecticut Grown Forest Products program. The maple syrup program certifies that maple syrup producers in Vermont use particular management strategies that promote bird habitat in the state. The forest products program is the result of an agreement between the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) and the Department of Agriculture (DOA) to include products from Connecticut's forests in the widely known Connecticut Grown program. Requirements for this program Connecticut Grown Forest Products Program ensure that Connecticut-grown forests are managed in a sustainable and responsible manner.
There are also initiatives that support the implementation of forest health-management practices on public woodlands in the interest of increasing revenue from these lands.
• The New Hampshire State Land Timber Sale Program , for example, is run by the Forest Management Bureau and sells timber on state reservations while demonstrating sound forestry principles. As codified by New Hampshire state law (RSA 227-G:1), forest benefits include not only forest products but also a viable forest-based economy, recreational opportunities, scenic values, healthful surroundings, climate mitigation, clean water, and biologically diverse populations of plants and animals.
Beyond these certification efforts, there are additional ways for landowners to expand their market presence to support the use of wood energy on private and public lands.
Run by the USDA and the USFS, the Community Wood Energy and Wood Innovation Grant Program provides funding and grants to install community wood energy systems or to build innovative wood product manufacturing facilities.
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