Today, Governor Tim Pawlenty recognized 25 logging businesses who have earned the distinction "Minnesota Certified Master Loggers". Loggers who become certified are able to provide certified wood to the market place. This means loggers and mills in Minnesota will be in a strong position to provide certified wood from family forestlands to customers that demand it.
Minnesota is a leader in the United States with its third-party certifications of state, county and industrial forests. However, efforts to certify family forests have been less successful. The relatively large number of those landowners and the associated turnover rate of family forest lands, combined with their low level of interest in certification, make them a complicated target for certification efforts. More than 50% of the timber harvested annually in Minnesota comes from family forestland. This presents a significant challenge to the forest products industry as demand for certified content and
products continues to increase.
"Minnesota Master Logger Certification (MMLC) is a means to certify timber from private forest landowners who are not likely to otherwise certify their forests," stated Dave Chura, MMLC's Program Administrator. "This certification provides customers and the general public assurances that the person or company performing the job has the education, training, and experience to do the job correctly and that appropriate practices are being implemented." Overall, Minnesota Master Logger Certification helps "raise the bar" of logging in terms of safety and the on-the-ground application of best management practices.
The MMLC program promotes sustainable forestry and provides an independent, third-party audit of a logging business's harvest, safety and business practices. The program is administered by the Minnesota Logger Education Program and was developed transparently by a working group which included representatives from the broad forestry community.
The Minnesota Master Logger Certification program is one of only a few master logger certification programs to be recognized by Time Inc. as a source of certified sustainable wood fiber.
Funding for this program has been provided in part by the AgStar Fund for Rural America, the Blandin Foundation, Ainsworth, Stora-Enso, UPM Blandin, the Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation, and by the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizens Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR).
More information about the Minnesota Master Logger Certification program, including a listing of Minnesota Certified Master Loggers can be found online at:
www.mlep.org/mmlc.htm or by contacting Dave Chura at
218-722-5442 or dchura@mlep.org.Minnesota Logger Education Program
