#et*U++=

I$lU hen Home Depot ceo Arthur Blank announced our wood purchasing policy in August 1999, we knew it would be an ambitious undertaking. The pledge was to give preference to wood from well-managed sustainable forests, but the challenge was to get others in the industry to follow our lead.

As a viable and renewable resource, wood can be indefinitely sustainable, but only when properly managed. At The Home Depot, we buy from many companies around the world. Because it is near-impossible to verify and spotcheck environmental claims and forestry practices with onsite inspections on a global basis, our company recognizes the Forest Stewardship Council certification. FSC certification enables us to buy with confidence in both mainstream and remote areas of the world.

Certification also is a very important element in raising awareness and commitment to sustainability. Stakeholders in the forestry industry have been very receptive to moving to a higher standard, and we have found that many of our North American wood product suppliers already have admirable on-the-ground forest management practices.

Although a very small percentage of the wood in the world is certified today, it is our ambition to have the wood products we sell come from well-managed, sustainable certified forests.

Suppliers are vital to the transition, and they know certi-

President Canton Lumber Co.

Att of us read the headlines:

"Industry Bigs Demand Certification ! "

Okay, let's do it. Hold on, say lots of producers. This is a really complex issue. So what can we really expect?

The Forest Stewardship Council has the support of the world's largest retailers and favored status of some national builders. The Sustainable Forestry Initiative has moved toward independent third party certification following the lead of FSC. Other certifying organizations have established standards followed by, or at least being examined by, other countries and companies.

The job is enormous. No single organization can certify all the forest landscapes that the marketplace insists be certified. These standards writing and certifying organizations will have to move closer together and arrive at mutual recognition. The extreme right and left positions must be left to mutter and protest to the extent they feel the need. The rest of the world has to get serious about verifying and certifying the tremendous global renewable forest resource.

The tiny headline most of us don't pay enough attention to is: "Architects, Builders and Remodelers Welcome

(Please turn to next page)