Forest Certification: Understanding Key Programs
The Maine Executive Order comes after 100 Members of Congress 6,000 individuals and Governors, and over around the world, encouraged the USGBC to reward wood from North American forests by equally recognizing SFI, ATFS, CSA, PEFC and FSC in their LEED rating system.
Currently, the LEED rating tool fails to recognize nearly three-quarters of North America’s certified forests, often leaving builders to give preference to FSC wood offshore over SFI certified wood in North America. Maine’s forest-products industry has an enormous impact on the state’s economy.
It directly and indirectly supports 55,000 jobs, annually creates more than $3 billion in earning and contributes $4.3 billion annually to Maine gross domestic product. In a news release announcing the new executive order, Governor LePage stated “We believe that by supporting the full range of forest certification programs, we are advancing Maine’s forest industry and the interests of our forest landowners in local, national, and global competition for market share… We are also protecting our valuable natural resources and traditional outdoor heritage.” More than seven million acres/ 2.8 million hectares are certified to the SFI Standard in Maine. Maine’s announcement is one of a recent string of decisions by US agencies and organizations that reinforce SFI’s growing recognition and an increasing trend to recognize the value of all forest certification programs equally. Recently the US Departments of Agriculture and Education, and the International Green Construction Code (IgCC) have all recognized SFI and other credible certification standards.
