Willamette Industries, Inc. has become the first major forest products company to receive independent third-party certification that its forest management practices are in compliance with standards of the American Forest & Paper Association’s Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI).
The company’s 610,000 acres of Oregon forest lands were audited in mid-September by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Willamette will receive an unqualified opinion when the final report is released, meaning that its Western timberlands are third-party certified to meet SFI standards.
The audit team reviewed the company’s forest management policies and records, but spent most of their time in Willamette’s forests, at random sites they selected. The audit team included two registered professional foresters, a former dean of Oregon State University’s school of forestry, a forest engineer and a wildlife biologist.
The audit team gave Willamette special recognition for its forest practices in several areas: stream rehabilitation programs to enhance fish survival and passage, interaction with citizens’ groups in watershed and visual quality management, reforestation success, providing additional wildlife trees beyond requirements and positioning them to support protection of unique habitats, providing habitat for forest bat species and engaging in wildlife research. PricewaterhouseCoopers will audit Willamette’s remaining 1.1 million acres of forest in the South and the East this year.
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