Thursday, 01 July 2004
Wisconsin State Lands Receive FSC Certification
490,000 Acres Of State Lands Now Certified — Possibility Of 2.5M Acres Of County Lands In Future
Scientific Certification Systems (SCS), an FSC-accredited certifier, announced last month that they have certified 490,000 acres of Wisconsin state forestlands as responsibly managed according to standards set by FSC. The certificate was presented to Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle at a ceremony held on June 14th, which also recognized the purchase and protection of an additional 10,000 acres on the Rainbow Flowage and Pickerel Lake.
“Certification shows the rest of the nation that Wisconsin is a leader in balancing environmental, social and economic demands on our nation's forests,” said Paul DeLong, Chief State Forester and Administrator of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources' Division of Forestry. “We have a great story to tell about progressive forest management here in Wisconsin; third party certification provides a forum for us to tell that story and for others to verify it.”
DeLong continued to say that, “certification puts an independent stamp of authenticity on our commitment to sustainable management of all products the forest provides, including recreation, wood products, wildlife habitat, clean air and water, and protection of high-conservation-value-forests.”
As part of the FSC evaluation of the forestlands, the evaluation team found that Wisconsin DNR personnel manage the state forests to a high level of environmental protection; work diligently to reduce or eliminate environmental effects from harvesting activities; and demonstrate a commitment to avoiding impacts to tribal resources found on state forest properties, among other conclusions.
“Certification to the internationally recognized FSC standard demonstrates once again that state forestlands are at the forefront of responsible land management,” said Dr. Robert Hrubes, SCS’s Senior Vice President and the lead auditor for SCS in this assessment.
Wisconsin now joins states such as Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts and Maine who have also earned FSC-certification for state forestlands. Of the 12 million FSC-certified acres of forestland in the U.S., nearly 5 million acres are comprised of publicly owned land.
Wisconsin’s forest products sector is a $28 billion dollar a year industry, providing nearly 100,000 manufacturing jobs in the state. With approximately 25 FSC chain-of-custody manufacturers located in Wisconsin, this additional certified acreage will significantly impact the supply of FSC-certified products available in the Midwest market, particularly in the paper sector.
“The global timber markets in which we compete are dynamic and there is a growing demand for forest goods that are certified as sustainable in respect to environmental, social and economic concerns,” said Paul Pingrey, DNR Forest Certification Coordinator.
The Wisconsin DNR also plans to contract with SCS for a forest management assessment of the Wisconsin County Forest program this fall (WI DNR will be evaluated as the group manager). To date, 27 of the 29 counties in the system have expressed interest in participating in a group certification program. Collectively, they own about 2.5 million acres.
For more information, visit www.dnr.wi.gov.