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WELCOME TO CERTIFIED FORESTRY NEWS
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Certified Forestry News is a bi-monthly news bulletin highlighting events, activities, and resources for individuals and groups interested in independent third party certifi-cation of forests and wood products. The focus is on the Great Lakes Region, but not exclusively. Subscriptions to the electronic version (email) are free. To subscribe send an email message to listserv@iatp.org. In the subject line say: "subscribe certified_forestry_news". To unsubscribe, in the subject line say: "unsubscribe certified_forestry_news". Email or send news about events, activities, and new resources to pguillery@iatp.org.
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Timbergreen Forestry becomes First Certified Consulting Forester in the Midwest
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Recently, the Smartwood Program intensively evaluated and certified Timbergreen Forestry in South-Central WI. Initially, the 207 acres of Timbergreen Farm received certification with other properties becoming certified as management plans are developed. The Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute, the SmartWood Program partner for the Lake States region, carried out the exhaustive assessment of Timbergreen and the forests they manage. Certification as a resource manager will now allow Timbergreen Forestry to offer certification to small forest owners throughout the region.
Forester Jim Birkemeier and ecologist Gigi La Budde of Timbergreen plan to expand the number of acres certified by developing and implementing management plans and harvesting operations for forest owners. To assist this effort, forest owners in the area have started the Sustainable Woods Cooperative, a coop whose goal is to encourage sustainable forestry and certification on private forestlands.
The cooperative currently has close to 120 members who own over 20,000 acres of forest. Initially, Timbergreen Forestry will be contracted to develop management plans, coordinate harvests and oversee all aspects of forestry operations that are required under the SmartWood certification. Eventually, the co-op plans to become certified in its own right.
Timbergreen also received chain-of-custody certification for its sawmill and production facility from SmartWood. This certification will allow the coop members to sell certified products through Timbergreen. For more information check their web page at http://www.execpc.com/timbergreen/index.html or call them at (608) 588- 7342.
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Will Customers Pay More for Certified Wood Products
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Where forestry and wood processing companies invest in certification, it is desirable for them to reap benefits to justify or offset these investment costs. To date, several willingness-to-pay studies have indicated that many customers will pay a price premium for certified products. These studies, however, are limited due to the fact that what customers say they will do and what they actually do can be entirely different.
A recent paper - focusing on actual behavior - has found that some customers have paid premiums for certified wood products, ranging from approximately 5% to 20%. In his paper "Certified Wood Products: The Potential For Price Premiums," Keith Forsyth provides up to date information regarding the costs of certification, discusses the likelihood of customers paying price premiums and outlines some of the key factors which affect the ability of companies to charge price premiums.
This document will soon be available at this website: http://www.iatp.org/forestry. For more information, contact Keith Forsyth at LTS International in the UK - Email: Keith- Forsyth@LTSI.co.uk Tel: +44131 440 5500 Fax: +44131 440 5501
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Hiawatha Sustainable Woods Cooperative Holds "Kick-Off" Meeting
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The Hiawatha Sustainable Woods Cooperative held an energized "kick-off " and information meeting September 2nd in Winona, Minnesota. Attended by over 70 people, the meeting including landowners, area foresters, mill owners, and loggers. Speakers included Mark Ritchie, Director of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, Gigi La Budde, ecologist and botanist with Timbergreen Forestry, Jim Birkemeier, forester and founder of Timbergreen Forestry, Jim Beeman, and E.G. Nadeau, of Cooperative Development Services in Madison. "The cooperative was organized to allow timber owners to process their resources and gain added value," said Jim Beeman, owner of Beeman Forest Products Limited, in Fountain City, Wisconsin, "You have to try to look at the forest for more than just the money and the board feet. Look at it in terms of the biodiversity, and so many other things, the aesthetics, the hunting, the trails."
Hiawatha Cooperative's membership is committed to a sustainable forestry philosophy. The coop has the goal of having its wood certified from Forest Stewardship Council accredited certifier. The Hiawatha Cooperative will provide many outlets for the wood, and include such services as marketing, sales, processing and even some assembly. Current paid membership includes 21 landowners from Winona County, Minnesota, and Buffalo and Trempealeau counties in Wisconsin. The Cooperative held a "Blowdown Meeting" September 20. Because of the tremendous storm damage this summer, 40 people attended to address the issues around wind damaged forests. For more information, call Jim Beeman (608) 687-8193. Or e-mail: beem@rconnect.com.
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Great Lakes Biodiversity and Sustainable Forestry Tour October 7-9 in Wisconsin
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Joining at different points of the tour, 32 people participated in the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy's tour of sustainable forestry initiatives in Wisconsin. The tour started with a visit to the Menominee Tribal Forests and sawmill in eastern Wisconsin, hosted by Marshall Pecore.
The entourage then headed southwest stopping at the Aldo Leopold Reserve near Baraboo, Wisconsin, and then onto Taliesan, Frank Lloyd Wright' s school and grounds near Spring Green, Wisconsin, the newest member of the Sustainable Woods Cooperative.
On the Frank Lloyd Wright grounds, an Amish logger and Jim Beeman, a member of the Hiawatha Sustainable Woods Cooperative, demonstrated felling and skidding techniques. The tour then went on to visit other land involved in the Sustainable Woods Cooperative, a Nature Conservancy prairie restoration site, and Timbergreen Farm, Jim Birkemeier's sawmill and woodshop.
The collection of funders, nonprofit forestry and environmental groups, Menominee tribal members, Sierra Magazine, foresters, sawmill owners and landowners from the all over the country enjoyed the breathtaking beauty of the peak color season in the forest, and the tremendous biodiversity in the Great Lakes Region.
From tasting wild prairie and forest plants, hiking through pine forests, hardwood stands and sand prairie, and transitioning through farm land and forest. It was clear to participants how sustainable forestry and cooperatives can contribute to preserving and increasing the biodiversity, as well as improving economic opportunities for landowners.
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Palisade Supply: FSC Certified Producer By Bob Bartz, Minnesota
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Palisade Supply Inc. started sawing pre-cut pallet parts in 1965. Shortly thereafter, it began manufacturing pallets, which continued until 1990. The decision was then made to cease pallet production and convert to making hardwood dimension parts. The company experimented in depth with the green dimensioning concept. Current production includes dry value-added products such as furniture and cabinet parts, glued-up panels, toy blanks, paneling, flooring and millwork.
Green dimensioning is a relatively new concept within the wood industry here in the United States. The traditional method is to saw random width lumber and then try to find a market for it. With green dimensioning, you target the market first, then break the log down to yield the parts that you need. The lumber is defected green, then only the usable parts are kiln dried. Lower grade logs are well suited to the green dimension process.
I have followed the development and progress of green certification and the SmartWood program for many years. With the certification of a land base in Aitkin County, Minnesota, it was logical and natural to become chain of custody certified. It's just the right thing to do. Certification is just the boost needed to push good forest management to the next higher level. Green certification, green dimensioning, and low-impact logging all work hand in hand.
To contact Palisade Supply or Bob Bartz, call 218-845-2317.
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United Nations/ECE Timber Committee Discusses Certification: Forest Products Annual Market Review 19
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This review provides a special chapter, "Certified forest products marketplace", which reviews in detail the current status of forest certification. The review itself discusses general and statistical information on forest product markets in the UN-ECE regions of Europe, North America and the Commonwealth of Independent States. It begins with a general overview of the forest products markets in the region followed by a description of the economic situation in the region
The developments in five sectors are also described for markets of roundwood, sawn softwood, sawn hardwood, wood-based panels and paper and paperboard, woodpulp and pulpwood. For each sector, production, consumption and trade are considered and relevant material on specific markets is included. Tables included with the text present detailed information and annex tables contain further reference material.
The document is available in English only in PDF format. Document website: http://www.unece.org/trade/timber/y-rev98.htm To read documents in PDF format you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader, available free of charge form the official Adobe WWW site: Get Acrobat Reader.
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WEB SITES RELATED TO CERTIFICATION
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Guide to Certified Forest Products: http://www.certifiedproducts.org
Forest Stewardship Council: http://www.fscus.org
Certified Forest Products Council: http://www.certifiedwood.org/
SmartWood: http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/swm.html
Scientific Certification Systems: http://www.scs1.com/forests.html
Canadian Forestry Certification Coalition: http://www.sfms.com/welcome.htm
Certification Jump Point: http://sustain.forestry.ubc.ca/certification
Coop America's Woodwise Program:http://woodwise.org
Menominee Tribal Enterprises: http://www.menominee.com/sdi
CIFOR: International Center for Forestry Research: http://www.cgiar.org/cifor/INDEX.HTM
World Resources Institute's Forest Frontiers Initiative: http//www.wr.org/wri/ffi
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