Yale Bulletin and Calendar

September 28, 2001

Volume 30, Number 4

Forest management certification program is launched

The School of Forestry & Environmental Studies (F&ES) has launched a groundbreaking program on forest management certification as part of its new Global Institute for Sustainable Forest Management.

The program will integrate the concepts of forest certification into the school's classes and research, as well as its service to partners and alumni.

Michael P. Washburn, former national coordinator of the Sustainable Forestry Partnership, a research consortium addressing issues of forest sustainability, joined the F&ES faculty in January to help launch this flagship effort of the institute, which also includes the Program on Private Forests, the Forest Dialogue and the Yale Forest Forum. He was joined in this effort this fall by Benjamin Cashore, assistant professor of sustainable forestry management, whose latest research focuses on the comparative analysis of forest certification politics and policies in North America and Europe.

"Forest certification is a tool for forest managers to gauge how well their forests are managed," explains Washburn. "Certification uses an evaluative process to determine if management meets social, economic and environmental standards."

Where forests meet standards -- including protection of water quality, biodiversity, long-term productivity, economic viability and accommodation of social expectations -- they are issued a certificate, which allows companies to sell their products as "certified." Products with a certification label can be found in stores such as Home Depot, which recently committed to purchasing certified wood products from suppliers.

"The intent," Washburn says, "is to allow consumers to favor those companies they believe in. Without certification, people would not know what impact their purchasing decisions may have had. Now they can have some assurance that careful decisions were made to protect the values of the forest where their wood was grown."

Washburn, as part of his research scientist appointment in the school, serves as a liaison to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service, which has provided support to initiate the program. A gift from Mrs. Enid Storm Dwyer and financial support from the Merck Family Fund, Kohlberg Foundation and, most recently, the Ford Foundation will assist in developing the program.

The Dwyer gift will enable F&ES to have the 7,840-acre Yale Myers Forest, located in northeastern Connecticut, assessed for certification. An assessment will take place this fall under the two major systems used in the United States: the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) of the American Forest and Paper Association.

Mark Ashton, school forest director and professor of silviculture and forest policy, will lead the effort along with the certifiers. Evaluators will visit the forest over several days to examine management plans and the actual management activities on the forest to determine if it meets standards.

"Certifying the forests will allow the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies to experience firsthand, the process, advantages and challenges involved in living up to certification standards. Additionally, it will create opportunities to conduct research strengthening the scientific bases for certification," Washburn says.

T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

Yale will proceed with Tercentennial celebration

Peabody's insects inspire fascination in scholars far and near

Talk by philanthropist surgeon to open United Way appeal

Service of Remembrance

J. Lloyd Suttle is appointed deputy provost

Benefit concert to help families of tragedy's fallen

Convocation to celebrate Yale's long tradition of theological education . . .

Grant supports professors' study of dwindling voter turnout

Panelists share experiences on matters of gender

Famed Bolshoi Theatre ballerina describes a life devoted to dance

Forest management certification program is launched

Students win grants for environmental research around the world

Insects are special of the day on Peabody Museum menu

Remembering the struggle

Trumbull Lecture will examine 1828 treatise on liberal education

Employee Day at the Bowl

Campus Notes