The jury is out on certification

By Donn Zea California Forest Products Commission

lf\VER the last decade, many forest \-f landowners around California decided to demonstrate their commitment to sustainable and environmentally responsible forest management practices in a new way.

These forest landowners, already subjected to the most extensive regulation in the country, chose to seek certification from the Forest Stewardship

Council and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative.

To gain these certifications, akin to Good Housekeeping-like seals of approval, landowners and wood products manufacturers voluntarily participate in a lengthy evaluation of their practices to determine if they meet a specific set of environmental, business and social standards. Extensive reviews are conducted by third parties-auditing firms, environmental groups, neighbors and others-to see if these standards are met. The landowners pay tens of thousands of dollars-and in some cases hundreds of thousands of dollars-to prepare for and gain certification.

Others in California's forest product industry, though committed to the principles of sustainable forestry and meeting the same higher requirements dictated by the state's forest protection laws, choose not to get certified. Many small landowners don't participate because they simply cannot afford the extra time and expense involved in the certification processes.

For those who do participate, the promise of certification is clear:

Recognition as a landowner who manages their forest in an environmentally responsible and sustainable way.

Better relations with environmental groups and neighbors who would know and recognize that certain landowners and wood products manufacturers met the higher standards.

A premium for products recognized as grown in an environmentally sensitive way.

Unfortunately, the promise of certification remains mostly unfulfilled.

Today, landowners who commit to the stringent standards necessary to gain certification are often under fire from the environmental groups that participate in the cerrification process. While meeting the highest standards, those landowners often are treated as if they meet no standard at all.

Currently, there is no premium paid for certified wood. A big part of the problem is a lack of education: most customers, whether at the retail, wholesale or institutional purchasing level, don't know about the certifica- tion programs. And, if they know about them, customers might be hard-pressed to find enough of the wood products labeled as being certified.

Consider: the International Home Builders recently held a massive convention in Las Vegas, with exhibits on everything imaginable affecting home building. Yet, there was no significant, demonstrable promotion of certified wood products or its producers. A high-end homebuilder from Lake Tahoe recently told me they had never even heard of the certification process.

Certification has been beneficial for some landowners and wood products manufacturers that have relationships with big box stores and a few major homebuilders. But, how can the forest products industry, as a whole, be asked to continue to participate in an expensive certification process that has yielded few, if any, benefits? They cannot.

If the Forest Stewardship Council and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative want continued-and hopefully expanded-participation, they must create an equation that justifies the time and expense of the certification process.

It's the responsibility of the certifying organizations to embark on a broad-based education program about the existence and benefits of certification. Wood product customers at all levels should know what it means to themfrom the trades and retail buyers to institutional purchasers for governmental entities.

The significance of certification and the commitment to excellence made by those who participate must be explained to the media, legislators, and regulators. These opinion leaders can help create a business climate that enables the forest products industry to be successful.

Environmental and community groups must begin giving credit to those managing forests in the way that the environmental groups themselves think forests should be managed. Unfortunately, these groups instead focus on an agenda that isn't about forest management-it's often about preventing harvesting entirely.

An in-depth study by the Natural Resources Management Department at Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo, Ca., examining the standards met by California forestry is nearing completion. The study will provide further information about the role certification plays in our forest management practices in California.

Though certification may never be appropriate for every landowner or mill operator, certification could help the entire forest products industry demonstrate that we have the highest quality products in the world.

Unfortunately today, certification is falling short of its initial promise. With competitive global pressures increas- ing daily, the future of these programs is at risk unless the benefits ofcertification can be realized.

- Donn Zea is president of the Calfornia Forest Products Commission