Last week, The Oregonian published an op-ed written by four leaders in Oregon’s forestry community, including State Forester Marvin Brown, who also serves as board chair for SFI. Other signatories include Clint Bentz, David Ford and Steve Wilson. These experts cite benefits for Oregon’s forests, the economy and green building in the state as reasons for supporting the presence of multiple forest certification programs.

They write, “With a lifetime of first-hand experience and extensive background in the application of forest certification programs in our state, we find it bewildering that the Green Building Council has not opened its LEED policy to all credible forest certification programs … In Oregon, our forests and communities benefit from the improvements resulting from the work of all organizations that certify sustainable forest practices.”

The piece also notes support for an inclusive LEED policy from Oregon Representatives Kurt Schrader, Greg Walden and David Wu, and Governor Ted Kulongoski.

We agree—with most of Oregon’s certified forest lands certified by SFI and programs SFI recognizes, such as ATFS, it’s imperative to open the policy to all credible forest certification programs. That’s a trend across the U.S. and Canada, where more than three quarters of our certified forests meet or are recognized by SFI. It’s also critical that the USGBC recognize wood’s superior environmental benefits and encourage the use of wood products in green building.

Read the piece in full, and check out our green building video if you haven’t already. You can see additional support for an inclusive LEED policy on our petition and website.

SFI is excited to take part in GRAPH EXPO 2010, a show for printers, publishers and creative services professionals. The physical show takes place in Chicago in early October, but a virtual sneak preview is scheduled for this Thursday, August 19! This free online event gives attendees a chance to chat live online with SFI staff and learn the SFI program, explore trends in forest certification, chain-of custody certification and on-product labeling. We encourage you to register to attend.

Professionals in printing and publishing fields have a great opportunity to help generate change. Using SFI-certified and labeled products increases awareness of the importance of forest certification and demonstrates a commitment to responsible forestry.

Follow our latest news about upcoming Graph Expo events on the Good for Forests blog and on Twitter by following @sfiprogram. If you’ll be in Chicago from October 3-6 and would like a free exhibits-only pass to Graph Expo, register here.

The Hard Copy Supplies Journal from Lyra Research recently took a close look at steps papermakers are taking in regards to certification with SFI and FSC, in addition to other forest certification programs. The article, titled “Environmental Certification on Paper: A Look at Who Is Using FSC and SFI in North America,” construes an important message—multiple programs help better achieve widespread responsible forest management.

Several interviews with papermakers were conducted for the article.  Boise Paper, Domtar, Finch Paper, International Paper, Verso Paper and other paper companies use multiple certification systems, including SFI and FSC. A variety of reasons for holding multiple certifications were addressed.

As stated in the piece, “Finch Paper’s Dziengeleski points out there is only so much certified wood out there—he says that only about 10 percent of all forestland in North America has been certified as meeting either the FSC or SFI standard. Dziengeleski says, ‘For us, in our location in our wood basket, there’s not enough certified wood around from just one system. So by being certified to both, we are able to get more third-party audited forests producing wood.’”

The theme of multiple forest certification systems to meet demand runs throughout the Journal’s findings. As far as which forest certification system is “best,” most feel there is no clear winner—SFI and FSC are both great systems with their own sets of challenges. Competition within the market allows for more consumer choice, another reason why many companies choose to use multiple certifications. Papermakers take pride being able to offer more than one option for consumers. Additionally, multiple programs increase the quality of each—they push one another to improve.

In summary, our philosophy regarding multiple certification programs in the market is similar to the summary provided by The Hard Copy Supplies Journal:

While too many environmental labels on a package of paper may indeed appear to be alphabet soup to the average consumer, it seems that, like every letter in the alphabet, all the existing forest-certification, fiber-sourcing, and chain-of-custody programs are needed. FSC, SFI, PEFC, and other certification systems all have the same noble goal of responsible and sustainable forest management. To ultimately succeed in this endeavor, these organizations must continue to encourage participation among smaller, family-owned forests and forest owners and papermakers in developing economies. It is also crucial that these organizations continue to police certificate holders by auditing or periodically requiring recertification from certificate holders to ensure that all standards are being met and that a certificate holder is not using certification granted for a particular tract of forestland or mill to “greenwash” its image while continuing to practice questionable forestry practices in other parts of its business. Finally, these organizations and the papermakers that support them need to provide more education at the consumer and small and medium-sized business (SMB) level. While enterprises may have procurement policies and be well versed in “eco-speak,” more consumers and SMBs must learn to decipher the “alphabet soup” and recognize that acronyms such as FSC and SFI denote sustainable forestry.

The full article is available at http://journal.lyra.com/TheLyraWeb/ShowArticle.aspx?ID=2520. Online registration is required to see the article in full.

If anyone ever asks you why the SFI Standard has objectives to conserve working forests, tell them to take a take a look at these pups on the cover of the third quarter report of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Red Wolf Recovery Program. The red wolf is one of the most endangered canids in the world, and the territory of one of the reintroduced packs includes working forest land owned by Weyerhaeuser.

Red wolves (Canis rufus) were once common across the eastern and south-central United States but fell victim to predator control programs and loss of habitat. To protect the species from extinction, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service captured as many as possible in the 1970s so they could breed them in captivity and reintroduce them. The Service found 17 pure red wolves, and 14 of them became founding members of the captive-breeding program, which means they are ancestors of all red wolves existing today.

When the wolves were released in 1993, some were located in the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in northeastern North Carolina, near Weyerhaeuser lands. One of the packs included the company’s lands as part of their territory, and Weyerhaeuser allowed USFWS access to the land to keep track of the wolves.

The Weyerhaeuser pack consists of a radio-collared breeding pair, and in April 2010 they had five pups in a den located on Weyerhaeuser land. They are among 74 known red wolves, including 13 breeding pairs, in the recovery area – about 1.7 million acres in northeastern North Carolina. This year, the Red Wolf Recovery Program documented nine litters, totaling 42 pups.

The red wolf is the first predator to be restored to the wild after being extirpated in the wild. Restoring them brings back diversity, balance and stability to the natural ecosystem. If you’re interested in the Red Wolf Recovery Program, you’ll want to check out a new weblog that combines text, images, videos and links.

The SFI program recognizes exemplary conservation projects through our conservation awards or supports them directly through our SFI Conservation and Community Partnerships Grants. But there are plenty of examples of stewardship and partnerships that fly under the radar – like red wolf recovery on working forest lands.

Photo: Ryan Nordsven, USFWS.

I recently had the pleasure of taking part in a series of radio interviews across the U.S. to explain the importance of opening LEED to all credible forest certification standards. The reporters and talk show hosts I spoke to were very engaged and concerned about the impact on their states. This was the case on stations from Arkansas to Michigan to Oregon to Mississippi, and places in between.

We want local forest owners to get a fair shake from the USGBC and be able to fully get credit for their certification to SFI, CSA or ATFS. Green building is expected to be a $140 billion dollar industry in the next three years. An unintended consequence of the USGBC’s current FSC-only policy is that because the majority of FSC’s certified lands are outside the U.S. and Canada, builders and architects may source from oversees to obtain the 1 certified wood credit under LEED, and say no to domestic products certified to SFI, ATFS and CSA. Obviously green building is an important part of the economy which makes opening the LEED rating system even more important to tree farmers, architects, builders and many more across North America.

It’s exciting to see more and more people take notice and support the movement to open LEED. Click on the play buttons below and take a listen to a few of the interviews.

Jason Metnick on the Lars Larson Show
Jason Metnick on the Lars Larson Show

Jason Metnick on Voices of Montana with Aaron Flint
Jason Metnick on Voices of Montana with Aaron Flint

Jason Metnick on the Mississippi State Network
Jason Metnick on the Mississippi State Network

Jason Metnick on KEX-AM
Jason Metnick on KEX-AM

Jason Metnick on Timber Talk, KZHE-FM
Jason Metnick on Timber Talk, KZHE-FM