Newsletter Stories


Tuesday, 01 June 2004
Upper Mississippi Certified Group

A remarkable new group chain-of-custody [COC] certificate has been granted to the Upper Mississippi Certified Group of Aitkin County, Minnesota. SmartWood, a program of the Rainforest Alliance, granted the certification.


This group of local, small businesses produces products from wood that is harvested from local FSC-certified forests. In 1997, County and State managed forests in Aitkin County were among the very first publicly managed forests to be certified as well-managed by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC); with neighboring Cass County managed forests being certified a few years later. There are a total of more than 855,000 certified acres between the two counties.

Aitkin County then recognized a need to enlist more businesses in the supply chain of the FSC-certified wood being harvested from their forests, in order that the chain-of-custody not be broken, and more products could make it to the marketplace as FSC-certified.

The group COC was formed as a way to help attract smaller forest products businesses to FSC by sharing the costs of certification. Each member pays annual dues to help support the cost of the certification, with additional funding subsidized by grants received from the Blandin Foundation and the McKnight Certified Forests Project, both local to Minnesota. Within five years, the group hopes to be financially self-sufficient and able to pay for certification costs entirely by member dues.

Aitkin County has provided support for the group by providing the human capital the program needs to be administered. Ross Wagner, Economic Development and Forest Industry Coordinator for Aitkin County, now spends half his time coordinating the program, and has been charged with the challenge of bringing more added value to the timber that is cut in Aitkin County. Wagner feels the group COC certification has allowed this to happen.

Phil Guillery of Dovetail Partners and an FSC-US Board member stated that, “the Group COC in Aitkin County is a great model of how small producers of FSC products can gain entry into the FSC system. The low cost of entry allows these producers to test the market for FSC products without undue risk. The leadership of Aitkin County government to initiate and support this group COC should be commended; without it, these small producers would not be participating.”

Membership to the Upper Mississippi Certified Group is open to individuals and small businesses that are located in Aitkin or Cass County or the surrounding Mississippi Headwaters Region, or utilize the FSC-certified timber or wood products produced in that region. The group currently boasts eight members, and products include flooring, paneling, moldings, lumber and cants for pallet manufacturers. The primary species are Oak, Basswood, Black Ash and Birch. In addition to, the group also includes a printer who can produce brochures, letterhead, envelopes, business cards and posters, and a trucking company, who has been able to generate some new business for the locally-harvested FSC-certified wood by transporting the logs and lumber to various chain-of-custody certified businesses outside of the Aitkin County area. The group has established an outlet for sales through the Green Institutes Reuse Warehouse in Minneapolis.

For More Information, please contact Ross Wagner, at             218-927-7305       orrwagner@co.aitkin.mn.us, or go to www.greatlakescertifiedwood.com/umcg