A2O-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 21,2003 Wood Products Expo (Continued from Page A 1) are certified. About 18.5 million are in the U.S. and Canada. About 3,400 companies have re ceived certification. Bubser noted that there are 556 members in about 61 coun tries certified under FSC. Esti mated value of the products and service total about $6.12 billion worldwide. Certification, Bubser said, is scheduled to double in the next three years. The government has the most active participation in certifica tion programs for green building programs. The green building programs link their birth to the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992, Bubser said, when “environmen talism” became a movement. FSC formed in 1993. The need for certification was recognized whep* it became harder “to con duct <ajn)merqal forest manage ment on properties,” he said, be cause of various environmental group political pressures. The first public land certifica tion under FSC began in 1997. Through the years, the program developed. In 2004, noted Bubs er, the tree farm “Standards for Sustainable Forest Certification” may be implemented. Federal, state, and local build ing projects are well under way, with the directives supplied by the Green Building Council. All state projects in Pennsylvania have to conform to the “silver re quirements” of the Council’s pro gram. Pennsylvania falls in second place, nationally, for registered projects, totaling 45. California has the lead at 83. Major home improvement and lumber stores, including Home Depot and Lowe’s, have enacted certified preference policies. The U.S. stands apart as the world’s leader in wood consump tion, in front of Western Europe and Japan, countries who are also big importers, Bubser noted. Bubser noted that Smart Wood, Richmond, Vt., is the “oldest for est certification organization in the world,” accredited by FSC. Smart Wood has customers in nine different countries. What makes certification suc cessful is that it pro vides the following key elements, according to Bubser; • Credibility through rigorous stan- dards. • On-product label ing. • Third-party certi fication through man ufacturing and distri bution. • International rec ognition and approval. • Addressing the “triple bottom line” the environment, the economy, and social responsibility. The certification process provides best management practices to use in place of regu- Graystone Small Animal Sale LLC (Root’s Market Manhcim, PA) Every Tuesday 4:30 pm Receiving 6 am oil sale time All lands of Poultry, Rabbits, Guinea Pigs, Pigeons 717-898-0755 lation. Bubser called certification the “antithesis of regulation.” He said regulation is the “extreme expression of frustration if we can’t or won’t do it, someone else is going to do it for us.” Certification provides the “standards of responsible forest ry,” he said. It allows homeown ers to “reward responsible com panies.” Benefits include healthy, pro ductive forests, sound forestry management, stronger industry relationships, access to world markets, improved company image and morale, and better business-to-business recognition. The third-party certification is critical, because with consumers, credibility is an issue. When a company decides to simply “cer tify” its own product, trust could be lost. “Only 13 percent of con sumers believe companies are credible,” noted Bubser. (Half the consumers believe newspapers are credible, according to Bubs er.) Certification, while an involv ed process, takes more than three months to complete. The bulk of certified lumber in North America is hardwood, through there is a growing need for softwood certification to meet increasing demand. Some pub Dave Bubser, regional manager/northern U.S., Smart* Wood, left, with Paul Lyskava, executive director of the Pennsylvania Forest Products Association, last week at Timber 2003. mmb m©imis ms* TOTO' IP®€EIT«: Can You Afford % sm» Whea ft tV ; Feeding Your Cron& Corn, Soybeans, ’ Sm»fl CraB«*« And JunftS JIJmeQ fltnPipMBPfWHS® JmDmßl* /I^WpiPipCS^ ' vnn mmsi Butch Rogers, manager of Timber Wolf Wood Processing Equipment, Rutland, Vt., op erates the Pro-MX Inline cutter/processor during Timber 2003. lishers, such as Times-Wamer, noted Bubser, require at least 80 percent of their paper to come from certified companies by 2006. Public Relations Companies would do well to offset criticism and conflict from 'u': the general public through some simple as having a checklist of type of public relations strategy. what your company is about, And good PR is not all 'that Y our certification, and other in complicated, -according to Pat formation on a fact sheet with *“*■ 1. Gimi and Asso- cu J lome „,. ighbors> a „ d » ciates, Hummelstown. munity leaders Wood, who also spoke during Timer 2003, noted PR can be as (Turn to Page ***> Eric Hertei, sales representative for Hudson Forest Equipment, demonstrates the Farm Boss 36-inch cutter In the demonstration area of Timber 2003 last week in Harrisburg. Photos by Andy Andrews, editor T * < t
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers