The Ohio Forestry Cooperative (OFC) is a landowner-owned cooperative, focused on forestry, with members representing thousands of acres. OFC recently transitioned from a pine-oriented focus to a whole-forest landcare service business.
In early 2004, the cooperative formed as the Ohio Premium Pine Cooperative (OPPC)—focused on management and marketing of planted pines generally not receiving attention in the hardwood-oriented state. The mission of OPPC was to accomplish the conservation treatments required to grow pine and restore hardwoods, and to market the pine products to best-use end markets.
Recently, however, the Co-op has undergone a strategic process which has expanded the co-op’s mission to focus more holistically on forest resources, including hardwoods as well as pine, and the approach of Forest Landcare as a conservation and rural development strategy. In late 2008 the co-op became the “Ohio Forestry Cooperative” (OFC) and undertook a robust planning effort to prepare for their new mission.
The cooperative uses an innovative peer outreach approach to engaging landowners, who might otherwise not be involved, in conservation practices.
Over the 5+ years since the cooperative was founded, we have treated over 500 acres and moved 25,000 tons of wood and woody biomass (used for paper) into the marketplace as part of our forest improvement projects. These projects have involved the whole range of ownership and stand sizes, while addressing multiple landowner objectives. All of these projects have been carried out with a forest health emphasis and in the context of long-term forest stewardship plans.
OFC is managed by a board of directors comprised of members, and utilizes the services of two professional foresters in the design and implementation of stewardship plans and projects. In addition, the co-op works closely with SWCDs, NRCS, and ODNR Service Forestry in the design and implementation of these projects. The business of OFC is to practice sustainable land management in the production of forest products while supporting job creation and local 
economies in the service area.
OFC leadership includes a retired service forester who has worked with private landowners on forest management for over 30 years, as well as a professional consulting forester who serves both on local SWCD and RC&D boards.
As a result of expanding our services, we are hearing from more and more woodland owners who are looking to OFC as the trusted partner who will help them take care of their woods. We currently have over 5,000 acres in the overall cooperative membership, and are actively recruiting more landowners every day. We anticipate increasing the acreage involved in the cooperative by several thousand acres by the end of summer 2009, then growing consistently from there, especially as we gear up and participate in partnerships such as the NRCS Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative.