Tuesday, 21 June 2016
Now Open: Public Consultation on Supplemental Requirements for US Forest Service
© Lori KnosallaJune 21, 2016
FSC US invites your participation in the second public consultation of the supplemental requirements for FSC certification of lands managed by the US Forest Service. Your review and input in this process is essential for a successful outcome, and we hope you will take some time to share your perspectives with us.
The 30-day consultation period closes on July 3, 2016.
Overview
To date, FSC certification of US Forest Service lands has not been possible due to an agreement among stakeholders that additional requirements to the FSC standard were needed to capture the unique conditions associated with National Forests, including ownership, history, mandate and resource management objectives.
In January 2015, the FSC-US Board of Directors initiated a process to develop these supplementary certification requirements, including requirements in the FSC Forest Stewardship Standard as well as the Certification Body Auditing Procedures.
The process to develop these requirements follows FSC procedures for developing or revising normative documents, including technical input and oversight from a chamber-balanced and consensus-based working group and technical experts, and opportunities for broader stakeholder engagement.
The first consultation took place from February 23 through April 22, 2016. It was followed by a second meeting of the ‘Federal Lands Working Group’ to review all comments and develop a second consultation draft. This second draft was developed with a commitment to advancing a shared perspective of what certification of National Forests should require.
Stakeholders are highly encouraged to participate in this second consultation.
How to participate
View draft Forest Service supplementary certification requirements, as well as a comment form. Via the previous link you will also find a Consultation Report from the first public consultation that provides a summary of key comments received as well as a compilation of all comments and Working Group responses.
To facilitate your review, we have provided the supplementary certification requirements in two formats:
1) Listed on their own in one document; and,
2) Embedded directly into the FSC US forest management standard, with track-changes and comment boxes to indicate changes from Draft 1 to Draft 2.
Please note that these are the same set of requirements – simply in two different formats.
For more information, or to discuss your perspectives verbally, please contact Karen Steer, external project coordinator, at: k.steer@us.fsc.org.
Thank you for participating!