Industry-backed Sustainable Forest Certification Attacked
11/12/99
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Title: Industry-backed Sustainable Forest Certification Attacked
Source: The Oregonian
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: November 12, 1999
Byline: Hal Bernton
Willamette Industries has ventured into green marketing with a
sustainable forestry certification of its 610,000 acres in Oregon.
The designation -- intended to assure consumers that Willamette is
protecting fish, wildlife, water and forests -- was conferred by an
accounting firm that sent foresters and a biologist to inspect
Willamette's forest lands.
But the standards used were developed by American Forest and Paper
Association, an industry trade group. And environmentalists are
upset.
"These standards were written by the industry for themselves," said
Daniel Hall of the American Lands Alliance, a conservation group.
"They're very vague, fail to protect the environment and are not a
credible certification system."
Conservationists view Willamette's announcement as an attempt to co-
opt a rival international certification system launched by the Forest
Stewardship Council.
Willamette's plunge into certification represents the latest
evolution of a timber industry eager to show earth-friendly
practices. A decade ago, most big retailers were unconcerned about
the source of their wood products, so long as the price was right.
Spurred by environmental activists, many European retailers and a few
U.S. retailers now are giving preference to certified wood products.
The forest products industry initially balked at certification but
since has decided to fashion its own.
"Like any good business enterprise, we evolved with the marketplace
of public opinion," said John Heissenbuttel, a vice president of the
American Forest and Paper Association.
Through the industry-sponsored program, all members of the
association are assumed to be managing their 52 million acres of U.S.
forests in a responsible manner. If members want to gain more
credibility, they can hire accounting firms to conduct audits.
Willamette was the first to act, hiring PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Auditors praised the company for its efforts to improve fish
survival, help bats and work with communities to reduce the visual
effects of clear-cutting. As an extension of the certification, the
company also would consider expanding its efforts to identify rare
plants and wildlife habitat and to minimize the visual effects of
logging.
The program is winning few backers outside the forest products
industry. Earlier this year, Home Depot announced that it would give
preference to certified wood products by 2002. But it plans to work
with the Beaverton-based Certified Forest Products Council, a
business association that recognizes the Forest Stewardship Council
certification program but not the industry-sponsored program
Willamette uses.
"They (Willamette Industries officials) ought to be acknowledged for
taking a positive step and beginning a process of certification. But
is it enough? Is it credible to the marketplace?" said David Ford,
president of the Certified Forest Products Council. He said he thinks
the Forest Stewardship Council has that credibility.
The council was formed in 1993 to unify independent certification
efforts. It had the support of environmentalists eager to realize
their vision of responsible forestry. That vision includes smaller
clear-cuts and, in the Northwest, a shift by big companies away from
the practice of cutting most of their forests on cycles of 40 to 60
years.
About 40 million acres have been certified worldwide through the
Forest Stewardship Council standards. Only about 5 million acres of
it are in the United States, but the U.S. acreage is increasing by
about 75 percent a year, according to the Certified Forest Products
Council.
The Forest Stewardship Council is still devising regional standards.
In the Northwest, the program has met with mixed success. The Collins
Cos. of Portland have been certified, and company officials praise
the program and are eager to see it expanded.
Other landowners have been hostile. Some of their criticism has
surfaced in Northwest Woodlands, a journal that devoted most of its
fall edition to certification.
"Certification programs should not tell us why we own forest land. .
. . They should not prescribe a simplistic one-size-fits-all set of
politically correct management," wrote Barte Starker, of Starker
Forests in Oregon. "The intent seems to be to encourage passive
activities . . . and include a strong bias against clear-cutting and
chemical use."
The battle between the two certification systems probably will
continue, but some retailers are hoping for common ground.
John Simley, a spokesman for Home Depot, said the industry standard
shouldn't be taken lightly. He said he hopes differences can be
resolved before the company favors certified products, in 2002.
But Debbie Hammel, who works with a group that certifies through the
Forest Stewardship Council, said, "It's hard to see a single system.
That may, in fact, happen at some point. But nowhere on the horizon
that I can see now."