Trust to Conserve Northeast Forestlands Hires Program Manager: Sydney Andersen

AUGUSTA, ME – Sydney Andersen of Topsham, ME has been hired as the new Program Manager.

Andersen started her new position in mid-January and is looking forward to working with loggers through the Northeast Master Logger® Certification Program to meet their professional needs.

“Sydney brings great experience and a strong professional background to her role and will be a huge asset to the Master Logger program,” a spokesperson for the organization said. “She will be focused on working with Master Loggers across the Northeast to improve and expand what the program offers, and we are excited to have her on board.”

Ms. Andersen grew up in Oregon, where she graduated from Oregon State University with a bachelor’s degree in Forest Engineering. During her studies, she took the opportunity to study abroad in Belgium, Québec, and New Zealand. While in Québec, Ms. Andersen fell in love with the East Coast. After three years of serving on the Board of Directors for a Soil and Water Conservation District and five years of working in forestry on the West Coast, she decided to pursue a career and livelihood in Maine. She currently lives in Topsham, where she is enjoying the next chapter of her life in Maine.

Sydney may be reached at (207) 688-8195 or sydney@plcloggers.org

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 administration of the program shifted 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 125 Master Logger® companies in the Northeast.

In addition to administering the Master Logger® program, the organization also 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. The organization is the administrative body that holds the FSC certificate and has overall responsibility for compliance with the FSC® Northeast Regional Standard.

The organization 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.