More on Maine and FSC

More details have come to us about the subject of "Does FSC certification help the earth?" (http://deadtreeedition.blogspot.com/2008/10/does-fsc-certification-help-earth.html). That describes the effort to have numerous small forestry operators in Maine receive Forest Stewardship Council certification without changing their forestry practices.

Three big makers of coated paper with mills in Maine -- NewPage, SAPPI, and Verso -- are sponsoring the effort, which is known as "landscape certification."

A Verso "Sustainability Report" says "we worked with government, environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs), customers and other interested stakeholders to explore opportunities to make certification of forestlands more accessible and affordable to small, private landowners. This effort, which includes identifying and evaluating landscape-scale information that can be used to satisfy the group compliance criteria of forest certification standards, will continue in 2008 with an ultimate objective of certifying 3 million new acres of forestland in the state to achieve the governor’s target of 10 million acres certified in Maine."