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Potlatch Announces SmartWood Certification of Arkansas LandsMay 4, 2005
Potlatch Corporation announced today that it has obtained SmartWood/Forest Stewardship Council certification of nearly a half million acres of Arkansas forestlands. The certification attests that these forests are managed using environmentally and socially sustainable techniques for planting, growth and harvesting, while protecting workers' and stakeholders' rights, future forest resources and wildlife habitat. Some of these forests, including 55,000 acres of bottomland hardwoods that Potlatch added to the White River and Cache River National Wildlife Refuges through a land exchange, are located in the very same region that an ivory billed woodpecker, long thought extinct, was recently sighted.
SmartWood/FSC certification of these forests reflects the changing face of forestry in the southeastern United States and directly impacts the market for responsibly harvested southern yellow pine, the wood of choice for framing buildings. Expanding this market has far-reaching implications for the home building sector, which accounts for two-thirds of the lumber consumption in the US, as well as for high-value forest habitats in the region.
By announcing the sustainable certification of 473,000 acres of pine and hardwood forest in Arkansas, Potlatch Corporation, an integrated forest products company, has taken a significant step towards expanding the supply of sustainable US-grown lumber. The certification is awarded by SmartWood, a program of the New York-based not-for-profit group Rainforest Alliance (www.rainforest-alliance.org), which verifies that the management of these lands meets the social and environmental standards stipulated by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). The FSC is a not-for-profit organization based in Bonn, Germany that sets standards for forestry certification worldwide and is widely recognized as the most comprehensive and rigorous of all certification systems.
"A robust supply of FSC-certified southern yellow pine framing lumber is a welcome addition to a growing list of construction products in today's market place," commented Rainforest Alliance forest products marketing associate Liza Murphy. Southern yellow pine is the preferred framing material due to its strength and durability. "The benefits that will accrue to conservation with this certification make the products even more attractive to consumers." Over the past ten years, 120 million acres (50 million hectares) in more than 60 countries have been certified according to FSC standards, and several thousand products are made using FSC-certified wood. Approximately 10% of all forests around the world used for harvest are FSC-certified. The global market for FSC-certified wood is now worth an estimated $5 billion.
To bring its management in line with SmartWood/FSC standards, Potlatch worked extensively with groups including The Nature Conservancy, Arkansas Natural Heritage and the Arkansas Fish and Game Commission to identify areas with high conservation values and to manage them so that they will continue to provide habitat for wildlife and migratory birds. Potlatch practices a mix of natural and plantation forest management, which is both unusual and noteworthy in the US southeast among industry forest owners. In addition to SmartWood/FSC, Potlatch has been certified to ISO 14001 and the American Forest and Paper Association's Sustainable Forestry Initiative Program standards.
"The recent sighting of the ivory billed woodpecker, last seen in 1944, demonstrates the high conservation value of these lands," said SmartWood senior forester Loy Jones. "Potlatch's responsible land management approach protects the endangered species and ecosystems that exist in its working forests.When you have the senior ecologist for Arkansas Natural Heritage singing the praises of a company's forest management, that says something about its conservation leadership in this industry."
Potlatch is also demonstrating its industry leadership by becoming the first company able to provide significant volumes of FSC-certified southern yellow pine lumber and packaging materials. "Potlatch provides an excellent working example of how sound forest management in plantations and natural forest can be applied in support of local communities," noted SmartWood chief of forestry Richard Donovan.
In addition to its Arkansas lands, Potlatch owns significant acreage in Idaho and Minnesota totaling more than 1.5 million acres. The company has 14 manufacturing or converting operations in six states. Products include lumber and panels (plywood and particleboard), bleached pulp, bleached paperboard and consumer tissue products. Read more about the Rainforest Alliance's SmartWood program.
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