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M/CLEAR Temp: 66 °F Wind: N at 13 mph Saturday, June 21, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend May 29, 2003 Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Phil Clark of Out of the Woods Ecoforestry, left, talks with Michael Washburn of the Forest Stewardship Council about logs he cut from private woodlands. In the background are forester Kelly Droege, left, and Zach Stevenson of Mail Tribune / Jim Craven The green seal of approval In Applegate Valley,650 acres of private woodlands have been certified eco-friendly By PAUL FATTIG Mail Tribune Michael Washburn doesn’t care if your dad can beat up his dad. Or even if you swear his mom wears logging boots in his native upstate New York. "I grew up in a very rural culture where preservation and active management groups still battle it out, day to day," said Washburn, vice president of forestry and marketing for the Forest Stewardship Council in Washington, D.C. "I think this will get us out of the old model of (spotted) owls versus loggers or ‘My dad can beat up your dad,‘" he added. Advertisement He was referring to the non-profit organization’s growing 10-year-old program to have wood products certified as being produced in an environmentally friendly and sustainable fashion. Under the program, the council sets standards that producers must meet to have their forests and products stamped with the FSC seal of approval. Washburn, 33, who has a doctorate in forest policy, was in southwestern Oregon on Wednesday to tour portions of the Applegate Valley, where some 650 acres of private woodlands have been certified under FSC standards. Funding and technical assistance were provided by the World Wildlife Fund. "I think it (FSC) is a solution in large part because it has helped break down the old divide and reduced the encampment mentality that used to characterize forestry debates," Washburn said. "That just wasn’t moving us forward." Evidence that certified wood products, sometimes called green lumber, is gaining acceptance and interests can be seen in the numbers, he said. Nationally, nearly 10 million acres and several hundred firms are FSC approved, he said. Home Depot is now selling some $250 million a year in FSC certified wood products, Washburn said, noting that many other firms have joined the movement. On the North American continent, the certified figure is 15 million acres. Worldwide, about 90 million acres have been certified by FSC, which now has 30 offices around the globe. The FSC sets the standards, then sends out accredited independent third parties to do the assessment. "If a company isn’t living up to standards or not applying the logo in a fair way, we can yank their certificate," Washburn said. Litigation can also be brought against any firm claiming it is FSC certified when it isn’t, he said. "Our emphasis has been on the private non-industrial forest base because nationally there are fewer mechanisms to ensure good management reach those acres," Washburn said. "We’re going to continue to focus on that private land which provides about half of the supply into the mix." The certified product is working out for Phil Clark and Joe Schattler, owners of Out of the Woods Ecoforestry. The two are working on the dozen certified private parcels in the Applegate Valley, using a light touch when it comes to logging. For more than six years, their firm, one of the first FSC-certified mill operations in the region, has been working with certified products. "I make my living out of working in the woods," said Clark, a former building contractor. "This is my source of income now." Kelly Droege, a Yale graduate who is originally from Cottage Grove, where his father was a timber worker, serves as a forester on the FSC-certified projects in the Applegate Valley. "The basic challenge, not just locally but around the world, is to create some connectivity between supply and demand," Droege said. There is plenty of demand locally, observed Mark Stella, a manufacturing designer by trade who represents Green Mountain Woodworks. His firm specializes in Pacific Northwest wood such as madrone and tan oak. "There is a great demand because these products are fairly unusual," Stella said. "These are not commonplace hardwoods so you’ve got a unique niche." Applegate Valley resident George Rice, a member of the Applegate Partnership, an organization whose goal is to achieve ecological and economical sustainability in the Applegate River watershed, said the FSC program dovetails with his group’s mission. "Anything that tries to bring about a balance in thinking between extremes is generally the tack we’re on," said the retired attorney. Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. 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