Pennsylvania Forest Certification

For the 12th consecutive year, Pennsylvania's management of it's 2.1 million acres of state forest lands has met or exceeded the standards for environmentally responsible stewardship. SmartWood verified that the Commonwealth's operations in State Forests comply with the principles and criteria developed by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). These principles are the international gold standard for environmentally and socially responsible forestry.

What is Forest Certification?

Forest Certification is an independent scientific review process that determines if a forest is managed in an environmentally responsible manner. Timber resource sustainability, forest ecosystem maintenance, and financial and socioeconomic considerations are all scutinized during the process.

The forest products industry is a complex web of interrelationships between producers, suppliers, manufacturers, wholesalers and customers. Beyond their direct customers and suppliers, companies rarely know where their wood comes from, nor where it ends up. This complex web does not provide a mechanism to trace a product from the forest to the final product and vice versa. Certification provides a mechanism for linking consumers and producers in the marketplace.

By tracking wood from forest to final product, certification enables consumers to support responsible forestry and provides forest owners with an incentive to maintain and improve forest management practices.

Benefits of Certification

Environmental groups such as the World Wildlife Fund, the National Wildlife Federation, Greenpeace and the Natural Resources Defense Council agree that forest certification encourages sound forest management and is good for forest conservation. Businesses such as Seven Islands Land Company and The Home Depot agree that forest product certification encourages sound business practices in the forest products industry, and is good for their bottom line.

The Forest Stewardship Council

The Forest Stewardship Council is an independent, non-profit, non-government organization. It was founded in 1993 by a diverse group of representatives from environmental and conservation groups, the timber industry, the forestry profession, indigenous peoples' organizations, community forestry groups and forest product certification organizations from 25 countries.

The FSC supports environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable management of the world's forests. FSC promotes responsible forest management by evaluating and accrediting certifiers, by encouraging the development of national and regional forest management standards, and by providing public education and information about independent, third-party certification as a tool for ensuring that the world's forests are protected for future generations.

Consumers buying products carrying an FSC label can be assured that their purchase comes from a forest which has been responsibly managed according to FSC Principles.

 

SW-FM/COC-003821 FSC certification ensures responsible use of forest resources © 1996 Forest Stewardship Council A.C.

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