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Secretary and Director of Marketing Forest Stewardship Council-U.S.

ed norm for forest management and wood products marketing. As in UL's work or a CPA's work, there is an added cost of doing business associated with doing what is expected of a company. But the benefits-public accountability and a sustainable supply of high-quality'timberwill make it something for which no one will question the good sense ofhaving.

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^"0 on the recent commitments of major retailers and manufacturers like The Home Depot, Lowe's Home Improvement Centers, and Andersen Windows to prefer wood products that can be documented as originating from responsible sources, it appears clear that forest certification is a lasting trend, one that is here to stay. But many in the industry have questioned-some publicly, some privately, "What will be the lasting impact of such a market trend on the industry, and on me?"

Since no one can forecast the future with certainty, I can't pretend to know for sure how the work of an organization like the Forest Stewardship Council will take hold in the long term. I can share, though, some of my observations about how the marketplace has reacted to our program, especially when FSC is implemented at the ground level, whether that is in the forest, in mills, or in a retail store.

The initial reaction by those who have confronted a request from their customers to get involved with the FSC has often been fear: fear that those unpredictable activists are up to no good again, fear that some unknown third party is going to come in and have control over key aspects of how businesses are run, orjust fear because FSC and certification, in general, is something new and therefore must be bad. Once they become engaged in our work, though, that fear tends to dissipate. In the end, forest certification and connecting a certified forest to a product through FSC's chain-of-custody is no more frightening a concept than having an organization like Underwriters' Laboratories ensure that the hairdryer you use every morning won't blow up in your hand, or that Price Waterhouse is looking over the financial statements of the publicly-traded corporation that you own stock in. As in the case of UL and a well-known accounting firm, consumers react well to the FSC assurance, and the industry has something strong and sure to hang its hat on when some may question the good work that it does every day on-the-ground.

"A learning curve" is the short-term outlook for certification in the marketplace, for it will take time for everyone to gain confidence in the way the system works and to point out better ways for it to integrate more seamlessly into the realities of wood harvesting and processing. On the learning curve, there will probably be some anomalies in pricing and availability. Yet I also watch savvy companies at all points on the production chain overcome these occasional difficulties every day and coming to see FSC and the certified wood trade as an asset to their operations, as it brings them to build closer relationships with their suppliers. In the longer term, as the industry overcomes its initial skepticism and sees the parallels between a system like FSC's and other well-accepted third party verifiers, like UL and certified public accountants, and as the system benefits from industry's insight and input into how it works, forest certification will become an everyday, accept-

By Eddie McMillan Executive V.P.-Building Materials Group Willamette Industries, Inc.

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I here's no question that third-party certification of forestlands is a trend that is here to say. This is primarily due to the fact that it is a significant way to assure the public that private and industrial lands are being well managed and have gone through a rigorous verification by an independent party. I believe that this may be the only way that we, as forest products companies, can give the public the assurance they are looking for.

Third-party certification by small, private landowners will be slower to evolve but will happen over time. The success of small landowner certification will depend on how active and helpful the larger industrial landowners are in offering assistance to help achieve this goal. It's critical that all certification systems (SFI, FSC, etc.) develop programs for these independent landowners that facilitate program compliance in a cost-effective way. An effort of cooperation and communication about what the future holds in this area will help independent landowners to understand the advantages of timberland certification.

Regarding product certification, there is currently very little demand from the consuming public for certified wood products. Interest in certified wood products is being generated by a very few companies as a way to demonstrate to various environmental groups that they are purchasing products from well managed forests.

Little progress has been made thus far in the area of certified products because of efforts to promote only one certification program. As acceptance of responsible product certification systems is broadened to recognize them as logical choices, product certification may grow. If the only effort in the future is to argue about a single product certification system, I believe that little will be accomplished.

In summary, forest certification will work to the advantage of many forest product companies. It is an effective way to demonstrate that we are doing what we say we are doing in the forests. Once certification becomes standard, landowners who are not performing to code will make improvements for fear of falling too far behind their competitors.

Product certification can only succeed once we broaden the idea of forest certification to the private landowner base, which makes up the majority of the available wood fiber. A great deal of work is yet to be done in this area.

The details around certification systems need to be better defined so those participants in the programs can under-

(Please turn to next pa?e) stand what is expected of them. All parlies need to understand that in the U.S. market, just one product certification system will not succeed. Forest product companies should welcome certification of our forestlands as the most inexpensive and effective way to convey the message that our forests are being well managed for today and the future.