Nadine Block, Senior Director of Government Outreach

Today the White House hosted the annual Easter Egg Roll and, for the third consecutive year, selected packaging from SFI chain of custody certified paperboard for the 2011 souvenir egg.  The White House unveiled the official souvenir design and logo in late March.  The egg itself has been manufactured from FSC-certified wood. The National Park Foundation sells the souvenir egg to benefit the White House Easter Egg Roll.

With nearly three quarters of all certified forests in North America meeting or recognized by our standard, we at SFI are pleased the White House is supporting responsibly managed forests with the Easter Egg Roll.  SFI’s comprehensive standard backs a strong commitment to responsible forest management and continuous improvement on SFI-certified lands across North America.  I also think it speaks volumes that the White House and National Park Foundation are recognizing two valid certification programs — the FSC and SFI.  They are not the first organizations to acknowledge the value of both standards. They join a long list of organizations, companies and associations around the world — including the United Nations, the Society of American Foresters and the National Association of State Foresters — who also appreciate the value of multiple forest certification programs.

We are thrilled, yet again, to play a role in this wonderful American tradition, and we hope the White House and other government entities increasingly use certified products, as it sends a signal when government leaders promote responsible forestry by sourcing certified products.

Posted by Allison Welde, SFI Director of Conservation Partnerships and Communications

As Earth Day (April 22) approaches, this is a great time to celebrate the fantastic contribution landowners of all sizes make to keep North America’s forests healthy and productive. It’s also a good time to celebrate the partnerships fostered through the SFI Conservation and Community Partnerships Grant Program which, among other things, are helping family forest landowners adopt and implement practices to improve wildlife habitat on their lands.

Greg Yarrow explains the importance of promoting mast-producing plants to support wildlife

I saw an example of this first-hand last week when I joined a field tour in Clemson University’s experimental forest. Wildlife ecology professors Greg Yarrow and Knight Cox, along with colleagues and students, are leading a grant project to test practices and techniques private forest landowners can use to enhance wildlife habitat. Here’s an example – if you make a road clearing a little wider there’s more sunlight on it, ground cover can grow on the road, and it provides food for birds and animals.

It’s a simple solution for landowners who would love to manage their land but are concerned it would be too expensive, demanding, or harmful to wildlife. I talked Brian Murphy from Quality Deer Management Association, one of the partners in the Clemson project, who said hunters can apply some of the Clemson techniques to create habitat on their land not only for specific game species but for other species like songbirds – and they can improve timber growth and earn some revenue as well.

What’s best about the Clemson project is that it gets the information into the hands of landowners and helps them understand how to use the techniques. I was pleased to see media reports about the field tour, and I know Clemson plans more events and webinars, in addition to information posted on its Wildlife Habitat Improvement Practices website.

The Clemson project is one of the first conservation grant projects SFI Inc. announced last spring. Earlier this month, we announced the first of our 2011 grants – to Ducks Unlimited Canada.

Earth Day gives us all a chance to stop and think about our relationship with the Earth and its communities. I’m proud that through great projects like the Clemson grant, the SFI community is about to incorporate Earth Day values into the other 364 days of the year.

Earlier this month, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources announced that all of Ohio’s 21 State Forests have achieved SFI certification.  Ohio Governor Ted Strickland issued an executive directive to the Division of Forestry to seek certification of the forests.  The Division of Forestry demonstrated to independent, third-party auditors that its forest management met standards related to the protection of biodiversity and water quality, public involvement and transparency, and sustainable timber harvesting- passing our rigorous standards.  To ensure its continued commitment to sustainable forest management, they will undergo annual audits as well.

We applaud the state of Ohio for taking initiative to ensure that its 200,000 acres of state forest land are well managed today for future generations.  Ohio is an addition to over 180 million acres of SFI-certified land in North America.  SFI is widely used on public lands throughout North America.  In fact,  of the 181+ million acres of forests certified to the SFI Standard, 74% are on public (state, provincial, or county) lands.

The press release from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources also noted that “the Division of Forestry has also undergone an audit for FSC ® program standards, and anticipates certification under this program within weeks.”  You can find out more about Ohio’s forest certification programs here.

Linda Casey, Alabama’s State Forester and a member of the SFI External Review Panel, talks about the benefits of SFI certification in her state.

In Alabama, we take great pride in the fact that our implementation rate for best management practices stands at 97 percent. A recent review by the Southern Group of State Foresters Water Resources Committee said Alabama’s level of commitment to its BMP program can serve as an example for other states.

Much of this success can be traced to SFI third-party certification and the program’s commitment to improving practices, building knowledge and training logging professionals. This means a lot to me as State Forester and to people in communities across Alabama.

These facts are in sharp contrast to the misinformation disseminated by market campaigners. Groups like ForestEthics might claim to care about our forests but their tactics suggest otherwise.

Negative, misleading reports do nothing to improve forest management – and risk driving consumers to markets beyond our borders. That’s not good news in Alabama where forests not only support our second-largest manufacturing industry but also provide clean air and water, and habitat for hundreds of wildlife species.

You only have to look at the list of SFI board members to realize they represent environmental, social and economic interests equally, and honestly. And suggestions that the SFI audit process is not rigorous would be news to the independent certification bodies who verify that forest operations meet standard requirements – and are accountable to internationally recognized accreditation bodies.

Close to 2.4 million acres of Alabama’s forests are certified to the SFI Standard, and I see the benefits almost every day. And SFI’s reach goes far beyond certified lands – it addresses the reality that 80 percent of our 22.7 million acres of Alabama’s forests are owned by more than 440,000 non-industrial private landowners.

As one of the independent experts advising the SFI program, I have watched as SFI certification rightfully gained credibility and respect in the forest sector and in markets around the world. In my own state, the Alabama SFI Implementation Committee was awarded an achievement award last year for its outreach and training activities.

As a State Forester, I wish more organizations would follow SFI’s lead in raising awareness about the value of third-party forest certification, and inviting diverse partners to work with them. Encouraging consumers to buy products certified to all credible programs, which definitely includes SFI, is one of the best ways to make a difference in the forest and in the marketplace.

Despite the position of their American counterpart, Green Building Council programs in other parts of the world are taking an inclusive approach to forest certification instead of limiting themselves to just the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).

The latest is Green Building Council Italia, which signed a protocol agreement (here is a link to an English translation) with PEFC Italy to promote the benefits of forest certification and the use of certified wood products in the building sector. You may recall that at the start of 2010, the Green Building Council of Australia began to give equal consideration in its Green Star rating tool to forest certification standards accepted by the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) as well as FSC.

Italy and Australia join many respected green building rating systems that recognize certified wood as an excellent choice for green building. Others that offer credits for products certified to FSC, as well as PEFC-endorsed standards like SFI, include the ANSI/ICC 700-2008:National Green Building Standard, the ANSI-GBI 01-2010 Green Building Assessment Protocol for Commercial Buildings, Built Green Canada, Green Globes, CASBEE (Japan) and BREEAM (United Kingdom).

We are seeing growing evidence that there is widespread public and professional support for recognizing all credible forest certification standards – check out our newest fact sheet SFI: What Others are Saying. I am optimistic that this reality, when combined with the fact that U.S. Green Building Council members turned down a proposed LEED certification benchmark last year, means we can work with USGBC to find a way to recognize the value of wood and certification as a proof point of responsible forestry. You will find the latest news about USGBC, LEED and SFI on our update website.