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-
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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.
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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