The Algonquin Forestry Authority (AFA) is the Ontario Crown Agency responsible for sustainable forest management in Algonquin Provincial Park. Responsibilities also include the harvesting and distribution of wood products to mills in communities adjacent to the Park.

The AFA's activities are overseen by a Board of Directors. These individuals are from local communities surrounding the Park and whose main interest is in the maintenance of Algonquin's unique values for future generations.

AFA has offices in Huntsville and Pembroke, employs a regular staff of 23 which includes five foresters, nine forest technicians, and a chartered accountant. The seasonal staff numbers up to 15.

Algonquin Park, which is world renowned, was established in 1893 and was Ontario's first provincial park. Algonquin is the headwater for five major rivers, provides significant recreational opportunities and wildlife habitat and also supplies forest products to the surrounding communities. Algonquin is biologically diverse with more than 1,000 vascular plant species and more than 200 vertebrates. Algonquin is located between Georgian Bay and the Ottawa River in south-central Ontario.

The forest industry supplied by Algonquin Park timber is comprised of sawmills, hardwood veneer mills, a pole plant and pulp mills which are wholly or partly dependent on this vital source of raw material. The Algonquin Park forest provides approximately 45% of the volume harvested annually from Crown forests in Central and Eastern Ontario.

This wood supply supports mills in communities such as Huntsville, Whitney, Madawaska, Pembroke, Rutherglen, Port du Fort and Mattawa. There are 13 mills receiving part or most of their supply from the Park on a regular basis while another 5 - 10 mills receive periodic supplies. 

There are over 420 people employed in Algonquin woods activities and over 2,400 people employed in the mills. In 2005-2006, the value of forest product sold by the Algonquin Forestry Authority was $25.2 million. Contractors engaged from communities in the region were paid over $20.9 million, and the AFA had a net income of $251,383. AFA is financially self-sufficient with no cost to Ontario taxpayers.

 
A number of forest products are produced because of the wide variety of tree species available in the Park. These include:

• Hardwood lumber for furniture, flooring and crating
• Softwood lumber for construction, paneling and finishing
• Utility poles
• Pulp and paper and packaging products
• Oriented strandboard
• Fuelwood