Indiana's state forests and classified forests have been certified by two outside organizations as being managed in a sustainable manner.
The Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry's state forest program recently completed the requirements for the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) and the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Independent auditors carefully reviewed forestry programs last fall, awarding certification in 2007. An annual surveillance audit is scheduled for November.
"We are pleased to have these two nationally and internationally recognized organizations to annually review our activities and report their findings to the public," said John Seifert, DNR State Forester. "Hoosiers deserve to have independent sources verify that forestry operations are being done properly."
Both certification programs began in the early 1990s, when both the forest products industry and consumers became increasingly concerned about the management of the world's forests.
The SFIwas originally a United States forest products industry initiative that has since spread into Canada. SFIis now an independent non-profit entity under the control of a 15-member board, including natural resource professionals, conservation organizations, forest industry executives and others. The program reviews 13 objectives covering sustainable forest management, procurement of wood and fiber, public reporting, continuous improvement and illegal logging.
The FSC is an international non-profit organization founded by representatives of environmental groups, the forest industry, professional fo 2 resters, indigenous peoples' organizations, and forest product certification organizations from 25 countries. The programmonitors forest management activities in more than 70 countries, comparing forests to a set of 10 principles and 57 criteria that are generally agreed to be environmentally sound and socially acceptable.
Both audit report summaries are available at www.dnr.in.gov/forestry.
Indiana's state forests cover about 150,000 acres scattered across 23 counties,mostly in the southern part of the state.
Some private forest lands are also certified as sustainable by theAmerican Tree FarmSystem (ATFS). Forest landowners with lands enrolled in Indiana's Classified Forest Program are included in a group certification.
More than 500,000 acres of Indiana's forest land owned by thousands of Hoosiers has been compared to the 15 performance measures and 21 indicators required by the ATFS. Indiana is the second state to achieve group certification for private forest lands.Wisconsin was the first.
To learn more about how these programs benefit private landowners and the forest products industry, contact Carl Hauser, DNR Division of Forestry, at (317) 232-4114, or e-mail chauser@dnr.in.gov.Carroll County Comet
