Michigan Logger Group
Started in the Upper Peninsula
The Center working in conjunction with the Michigan Forest Products Council and Potlatch Corporation's Gwinn, Michigan plant is initiating a Chain-of-Custody (CoC) group for loggers under the Centers' Group Building Program. The Group Building Program is designed to facilitate the development of independent group certificates for either forest management or CoC. The  Program works by initially enrolling members into one of the Center's groups. The future group manager (in this case Potlatch) is the sub-group manager and works with the Center to develop technical assistance, auditing procedures, and management structure for the sub-group. The sub-group manager gains experience and information including data on costs that is necessary for it to manage an independent certificate. After a period of time the sub-group manager establishes their own group and the sub-group members are transferred from the Centers certificate to the new certificate holder. The current plan is that Potlatch will have its initial group management audit this summer during the annual audit cycle for its own CoC audit. Combining the audits and having a single entity administrate both certificates has administrative and cost advantageous. Until that time the loggers will be a member of the Center's FSC CoC group and will be cutting and hauling FSC certified logs from Michigan State Forests to Potlatch's facility in Gwinn. For more information on the Group Building Program click here.
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Center Undergoes
FM and CoC Audit
In December the Center for Forest and Wood Certification completed our annual surveillance audit for both the Forest  Management and Chain-of-Custody group certification certificates. Several group members of both FM and CoC were randomly selected and visited by auditors from the Center's Certifying Body, Scientific Certification Systems. Click here to learn more about the Center's audit.
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FSC Changes
Federal Lands Policy
The Forest Stewardship Council-U.S. has recently updated their federal lands policy related to forest management certification. FSC has removed the requirement that federal land agencies have consensus among all stakeholders regarding harvesting levels. Federal lands are still required to be "willing participants" and agree to potential additional indicators decided by FSC-US. You can read more about the decision here including notes from FSC-US to their members regarding the decision and the full report from the FSC Exploratory Committee that recommended the change to the full FSC Board.
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A continuing online feature of the Center is the detailed discussion of a portion of a certification system's forest management or  chain-of-custody standard. This issue's Better Know a Standard focuses on the Forest Stewardship Council Indicator 6.5.h. of the Forest Management Standard. This indicator deals with FSC's requirement of mitigating damage by grazing domesticated animals. |
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Center Sponsors and Support
The Center wishes to thank our sustaining and supporting sponsors. Particular thanks are given to corporate sponsors providing sustaining multiple year commitments including Time Inc., Domtar Corporation, Kentucky Division of Forestry, and NewPage Corp. Sustaining contributions are also being provided by the Mountain Association for Community and Economic Development, University of Kentucky, College of Agriculture, Department of Forestry, and the Kentucky Sustainable Forestry Initiative Implementation Committee. Center also wishes to thank organizations for providing endorsement of the Center including the Kentucky Forest Industry Association, Tennessee Sustainable Forestry Initiative Implementation Committee, Kentucky Chapter of the Association of Consulting Foresters, and the Kentucky Woodland Owner Association. More information about are partners and how you can support the Center's mission, goals, and projects please visit here.
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