The U.S. Forest Service is considering a sustainable certification program for national forestlands using  standards set by two certification programs, the Forest Stewardship Council and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, for private and state-owned forests in the U.S.  In a study commissioned by the agency, the Pinchot Institute for Conservation evaluated the management of five national forest units over two years and found that many of the agency's forest management practices were already in line with sustainable certification requirements, but the backlog of forest health management and road maintenance projects would pose challenges.

Click here to read the study's Executive Summary.

Click here to read the full report: National Forest System (NFS) Certification Study: An Evaluation of the Application of Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) Standards on Five National Forest System Management Units