Tuesday, 22 May 2007
Standards Revision Process
Announcing FSC Member And Stakeholder Meetings
This summer, FSC-US will be holding informational meetings to brief members and stakeholders on the ongoing process to revise the FSC-US regional standards. These regional meetings will also be an opportunity for interested parties to learn more about the many exciting developments in FSC that have taken place over the last year.
Please mark your calendars and join us at the following meetings:
New England - June 26, Concord, NH
Lake States - June 29, Minneapolis, MN
Southeast - July 12, Atlanta, GA
West Coast - July 24, Sacramento, CA
Pacific Northwest - July 27, Seattle, WA
A detailed agenda, exact meeting times and locations will be announced soon on our website atwww.fscus.org/standards_criteria/revision_methodology.php
The methodology for revising FSC standards is being circulated for review and comment. The comment period will be from May 22nd to July 31st, 2007. Comments on the final assessments of the FSC regional standards or any other aspect of the standard revision process can be submitted via the website. Written comments are also welcome and can be sent to: FSC-US, 1155 30th St. NW, Washington, DC 20007.
Standard Revision Process
The Forest Stewardship Council has initiated the process to revise the set of FSC standards that cover forests in the U.S. An independent review of the nine regional standards has been completed and circulated for public comment. FSC-US is now embarking on the process to revise these standards based on this review. A number of issues that were raised during the review have been considered by the FSC-US Board of Directors and a methodology for moving forward with the revision has been developed. The methodology can be downloaded here on our website at www.fscus.org/standards_criteria/revision_methodology.php
Consideration of New Issues to Include in FSC-US Regional Standard
One objective for these meetings will be to present and review potential new issues that the revised standard must consider. A number of issues, such as off highway vehicle use, were identified in the comments received on the Standards Review Process as issues that were not included in the original regional standards. We request that members and stakeholders send us descriptions of any new issues that they feel need to be considered to be included in the revised standards ahead of the meetings. This will allow these issues to be presented and discussed.
For those members and stakeholders that are unable to attend these meetings, the FSC-US Board of Directors encourages you to review the methodology, comment and sign up for updates on the development of the FSC-US standards.
Comments can be submitted online at:www.fscus.org/standards_criteria/methodology_comments.php
If you are interested in attending one the meetings, please register online at:www.fscus.org/standards_criteria/meeting_registration.php
To receive updates on the standards revision process, please sign-up here:www.fscus.org/standards_criteria/methodology_updates.php