Saturday, 01 November 2003
Wisconsin to Consider Certification
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will conduct assessments of three state land management programs to determine the feasibility of third party forest certification. This July, Governor Jim Doyle directed the newly formed Council of Forestry to develop a sustainable forest certification program for state lands in order to protect the customer base of the state’s forest product and printing industries.
This effort is part of the Governor’s “Grow Wisconsin" action plan to revitalize manufacturing in Wisconsin and boost the state economy.
Six sectors of manufacturing have been identified by the Governor as areas to concentrate on, of which one area is expanding opportunities for paper and printing through a sustainable forest certification.
Large consumers of paper are beginning to demand that the pulp being used to make their paper come from forests that are certified as managed in a sustainable way. The consumers, such as Time Inc. are demanding 'green’ inputs into their products. Many of Wisconsin’s paper mills rely on these consumers and key customers.
In addition to helping protect market access, Paul DeLong, chief state forester, sees other benefits in forest certification assessments. He noted that, “Although we are confident that DNR land management programs are sound, forest certification will establish the highest level of public and professional credibility. If there are areas that could be improved, the assessments will help us identify needs and justify changes. Certification of the state programs could also serve as a model for many private landowners and an educational opportunity for the public."
The Wisconsin State Forest program, covering 490,000 acres, and County Forest programs, covering a total of 2.4 million acres, will undergo forest management assessments by both FSC and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI). The Managed Forest Law (MFL) program, which has approximately 28,000 private forest land owner participants and covers 1.5 million acres, will be assessed by FSC, SFI, and the American Tree Farm program. The Wisconsin DNR has selected Scientific Certification Systems to conduct the necessary FSC assessments, scheduled to be completed by February 2004.
After the assessments of the State Forest program are completed, the Council on Forestry will determine if a signed certification contract is viable for the State, and which certification program(s) to abide by. Paul Pingrey, private forestry specialist for Wisconsin DNR, noted that the possibility of dual certification contracts with both FSC and SFI is “very likely."
The County and MFL program reviews will be considered feasibility studies, as those programs are more complex because multiple land managers are involved. If they are determined as feasible, single, dual or even triple certification may result, depending on current demands of the marketplace for the resultant forest products.