From gbarry@forests.org Sat Dec 22 17:55:39 2001 Date: Sun, 02 Dec 2001 15:46:49 -0600 From: Glen BarrySubject: FORESTS: What Is Green Forestry? *********************************************** FOREST CONSERVATION NEWS TODAY What Is Green Forestry? Boise Cascade Certifies 300,000 Acres *********************************************** Forest Networking a Project of Forests.org, Inc. http://forests.org/ -- Forest Conservation Portal http://forests.org/links/ -- Forest Conservation Links 12/02/01 OVERVIEW & COMMENTARY by Forests.org Forest certification is a splendid idea that holds great potential to minimize environmental impacts and maximize the sustainability of forest management. Forests.org strongly supports forest certification standards that guarantee forest products do not come from ancient old growth forests and management practices are based upon requirements for upscale forest sustainability. There is a battle being waged, between certification standards backed by the traditional timber industry and those backed by establishment environmental groups, which threatens to make forest certification meaningless. Below is timber industry PR regarding how the American Forest & Paper Association has certified Boise Cascade timberland in Northeast Oregon. This is not very reassuring. Do not confuse sustaining timber production with sustaining forest ecosystems, and all their species, structure and functions. Meanwhile the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), the alternative backed by many environmentalists, is compromising environmental principles to gain market share. Forest certification schemes less rigorous than the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) are a scam. Industry sponsored certification schemes are green-dressing to legitimize business as usual over-exploitation of forests. Under such programs the industrial forest paradigm remains unquestioned. There is no change in the scale and intensity of commercial forest management - the root cause of forest diminishment and non-sustainability. Even FSC certification condones continued widespread first time industrial logging of most of the World's remaining ancient old- growth forests. While FSC is clearly preferable to the other bogus certification schemes, it may not be realistic to expect consumers to differentiate between various certifying groups. Particularly when FSC is failing to provide a sufficiently environmentally rigorous alternative. Forests.org strongly supports certifying forest products as being free of commercially logged ancient old-growth forests. Commercial scale logging of primary forests is NEVER sustainable or environmentally sensitive. Truly rigorous claims of environmental desirability would only certify small and medium scaled community- based eco-forestry activities in ancient forests, secondary natural forest management, mixed species plantations on degraded lands, and promote the use of alternative fibers and building materials. Labeling a forest product as being "green" requires nothing less. The forest conservation community is being had. On the important matter of whether logging ancient old growth forests is environmentally acceptable and worthy of being labeled as green, all the certification standards fail. Because of this, FSC is failing to differentiate itself from bogus alternatives. Another promising concept, crucial for global ecological sustainability, is in danger of being made meaningless as compromised environmentalists compromise rather than remaining vigilantly green. g.b. ******************************* RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE: Title: Boise Cascade Certifies 300,000 Acres of Forest Land in Northeast Oregon Source: Copyright 2001 PR Newswire Date: November 19, 2001 BOISE, Idaho, Nov. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Boise Cascade Corp. (NYSE: BCC) today announced results from an independent, third-party audit to certify approximately 300,000 acres of timberland located in the company's Northeast Oregon Region. The audit, performed by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, certified Boise Cascade's full conformance with the American Forest & Paper Association's (AF&PA) Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFISM) Program standards and confirmed conformance with the company's own Forest Stewardship Values and Measures. Boise Cascade timberlands in western Oregon, Idaho, and Washington were audited earlier in the audit cycle and were found to be in conformance with SFI standards. The northeast Oregon audit examined forest management practices on timberland owned and managed by the company and on private and public land where the company harvests standing timber, as well as the region's wood procurement system. Observing portions of the audit were 14 representatives of Boise Cascade wood products customers, four media representatives, and three members of the independent Forest Stewardship Advisory Council. The advisory council is comprised of seven nationally recognized natural resource experts who have agreed to advise Boise Cascade on ways we can enhance our forest stewardship. The PricewaterhouseCoopers audit report identified a number of good management practices, where performance was judged to be above average for the industry, and opportunities for improvement, where procedures could be better documented and standardized to improve management practices. The PricewaterhouseCoopers audit team included technical experts in forest engineering, forest planning, silviculture, range management and wildlife management. Auditors interviewed Boise Cascade staff, contractors, Oregon Department of Forestry employees, and neighboring landowners. They also inspected office processes and numerous sites in the forest. "Having independent experts audit our forest management practices is an excellent way to show our customers that they are buying wood products from a company that manages timberlands against rigorous environmental standards," said Robert Messinger, Northeast Oregon and Idaho Region timberlands. "The audit also allows us to establish a benchmark for our own goal of continuously improving our forest management." The AF&PA's SFI Program is a comprehensive system of principles, objectives, and performance measures that integrates the sustainable growing and harvesting of trees with protection of wildlife, plants, soil, and water quality. Boise Cascade Corp., headquartered in Boise, Idaho, is a major distributor of office products and building materials and an integrated manufacturer and distributor of paper and wood products. The company also owns or controls 2.3 million acres of timberland in the United States. A leader in sustainable forestry, Boise Cascade uses third-party audits and an advisory council of independent experts in its Forest Stewardship Program to ensure the protection of wildlife, plants, soil, and air and water quality. Visit the Boise Cascade web site at http://www.bc.com . ###RELAYED TEXT ENDS### In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving forest conservation informational materials for educational, personal and non-commercial use only. Recipients should seek permission from the source to reprint this PHOTOCOPY. All efforts are made to provide accurate, timely pieces, though ultimate responsibility for verifying all information rests with the reader. For additional forest conservation news & information please see the Forest Conservation Portal at URL= http://forests.org/ Networked by Forests.org, Inc., gbarry@forests.org