A new online resource will help to demonstrate the sustainable and legal nature of timber harvesting in the United States.
WASHINGTON—With encouragement from federal trade agencies and support from the USDA Forest Service, the National Association of State Foresters has created an open-access clearinghouse for national and state regulations that affect the management of U.S. forests and help to demonstrate the sustainable and legal nature in which U.S. timber is harvested.
“Since the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, non-governmental organizations and their governmental counterparts around the world have been working to provide assurances to consumers that their wood products originate from sustainable and legal sources,” said George Geissler, Oklahoma state forester and NASF president. “In the U.S., providing these assurances can be time-consuming and expensive because many of the regulations and programs which support legal and sustainability determinations are state-specific. To remedy this problem, NASF has launched a legal and sustainable timber assurance online resource – TimberAssurance.Org.”
“It is critical that the process for assuring sustainable harvests is never so cumbersome that it presents a barrier to international market entry for U.S. wood products,” said Jay Farrell, NASF executive director. “TimberAssurance.Org is a first-of-its-kind resource for identifying the state-specific programs and policies that affect forest management on all private lands in the United States. This information will help assure government agencies, wood purchasers, and others that U.S. wood is sourced the right way.”
For more information, visit TimberAssurance.Org or NASF’s website: www.stateforesters.org.
Media Contact: Whitney Forman-Cook at wforman-cook@stateforesters.org or 202-624-5417