Auburn, Oct. 17---More than 200 forestland owners in Chambers County were on hand for a meeting held on the evening of Thursday, Oct. 11, to address widespread concerns about a controversial new certification program.

"There is a push now for a new certification program that would require very strict guidelines, making it virtually impossible for local landowners to maintain control over his or her forest and production," says Kim Wilkins, a Chambers County Extension agent who represents Extension on the Forestry Planning Committee.

The committee, comprised of Extension, the Alabama Forestry Commission, the Natural Resources and Conservation Service and local landowners, sponsored the meeting.

The certification program in question is sponsored by the Forest Stewardship Council, which is funded by several major nonprofit foundations such as the Ford Foundation and Pew Charitable Trust. According to a statement posted on its Web site, the Forestry Stewardship Council seeks to introduce "an international labeling scheme for forest products, which provides a credible guarantee that the product comes from a well-managed forest." It also advocates measures aimed at supporting "environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial, and economically viable management of the world's forests."

While this may sound reasonable enough at first glance, many landowners contend the FSC certification program, first developed in Mexico, is less suited to timberland production in developed countries such as the United States.

Moreover, they claim this approach would radically change the way they manage their land.

One of the stated goals of FSC certification is "to enhance the long-term social and economic well-being of forestry workers and the local community." However, many Chambers County landowners believe this would place many more financial burdens on landowners beyond paying taxes.

Landowners also fear they would be required to apprize local residents of their community of any forestry management practices that may possibly have environmental or aesthetic effects. In effect, they would need permission from neighbors, hunters or others merely to undertake routine forestry management practices.

Landowners are also concerned FSC certification would impair their ability to sell to the highest bidder. This provision, they say, strikes at the very heart of free-market competition by discouraging competition from non-local buyers and processors.

Finally, landowners fear FSC certification would sharply curtail their access to pesticides and herbicides, many of which are considered essential for enhancing both timber and wildlife habitat.

Two spokespersons were on hand to discuss the implications of the certification program: Stephanie Brown of the Washington, D.C.-based American Tree Farm System and Bob Chambers of the Timberland Investment Services in Woodstock, Ga.

"We’re just trying to get the facts and open up the lines of communication," Wilkins says in describing the purpose of the meeting. "There has been so much miscommunication and misunderstanding from both sides of the issue."

Many landowners are concerned several major manufacturers already have agreed to purchase only FSC-certified timber. This growing corporate preference for FSC-certified products, they fear, ultimately will result in many manufacturers turning their backs on landowners who refuse to obtain this certification.

In addition to providing landowners with a forum to air their concerns about FSC certification, organizers also made a point to highlight many of the rigorous standards American landowners already follow to turn out an environmentally safe product.

Ron Jarvis, a representative of the Atlanta-based Home Depot, also was on hand to allay fears that his company and other major manufacturers are refusing to buy from landowners who are not FSC certified. Organizers of the meeting also wanted Jarvis and other representatives of the manufacturing industry to leave knowing that Southern forestland owners already comply with a number of standards aimed at safeguarding the environment.

"As we learned from the meeting, Home Depot and other timber manufacturers aren’t aware of all the good management practices that Southern timberland owners already have in place," Wilkins says.

American landowners, she says, already have to comply with a number of rigorous laws and standards and regulations that include the Endangered Species Act, best management practices (BMPs) and a number EPA regulations.