Newsletter Stories


Friday, 01 March 2002
EFK, Inc.: Profile of a Resource Manager

Resource manager (RM) certification in the FSC system is one of several group certification models that reduce the cost of certification for small landowners, landowner associations, cooperatives, land trusts, and other woodland owner or management groups. RMs are experts on local and regional issues that affect forest management, including the historical context of an area, laws and regulations, local ecology, and timber markets. They can manage a property for ecological concerns, for economic reward, or for social equity. Or in the case of FSC-certified resource managers, they can manage for all three of these goals.


Edward F. Kocjancic, Inc. (EFK) is a forestry consulting firm certified under the resource management program by FSC-accredited SmartWood. EFK’s five foresters have diverse backgrounds in forestry and business, and experience in all phases of management plan preparation and implementation. Four properties totaling 11,081 acres in northwest PA comprise the EFK’s pool of certified properties. Ranging in size from 180 to 6,600 acres, they include private lands and a municipal watershed.

All are managed as production forests. Management objectives focus on sustained production of timber, water, wildlife, and recreation value. Most timber harvests focus on stand improvement on intermediate age stands, and on establishing favorable regeneration in stands nearing maturity. Exploding whitetail deer populations and acid precipitation, subsurface mineral rights, and public land abutment have created interesting challenges for EFK. The leadership and staff at EFK work to increase public awareness of good forest management, including holding director positions at Penn State’s School of Forest Resources and the Allegheny Hardwood Utilization Group.

EFK is collaborating with Penn State to develop forest management software that integrates GPS, GIS, and forest inventory. The firm was recently nominated for the Pennsylvania Governor’s Export Excellence award, in recognition of the company’s contribution to the state.

For more information on EFK services, visit www.ekocjancic.com, call            814.837.8488       or email efk@pennswoods.net. For more information on Resource Manager certification, contact FSC-U.S.