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Sustainable Forestry Initiative Releases New Standard

Sustainable Forestry Initiative Releases New Standard
from WhatTheyThink Going Green -A Resource for Today’s Green Business by Gail Nickel-Kailing

Sustainable Forestry Initiative® released a new forest certification standard supporting sustainable forest management. The result of an 18-month public review, the new SFI 2010-2014 Standard includes revisions that:

* Improve conservation of biodiversity
* Address emerging issues such as climate change and bioenergy
* Strengthen fiber sourcing requirements to broaden the practice of
sustainable forestry and avoid controversial or illegal offshore
fiber sources
* Embrace the Lacey Act amendments to prevent illegal logging
* Expand requirements for logger training
* Expand requirement for support for trained loggers and certified
logger programs

The Standard is based on 14 core principles (5 more than the previous standard) that promote sustainable forest management, including measures to protect water quality, biodiversity, wildlife habitat, species at risk, and forests with exceptional conservation value. The Standard also has 20 objectives, 39 performance measures, and 114 indicators.

Some of the revisions include:

* Illegal logging: Strengthens illegal logging provisions and
includes a definition of illegal logging consistent with
amendments to the Lacey Act in the US.
* Fiber sourcing: Strengthens fiber sourcing requirement. SFI
program must require the use of trained loggers and resource
professionals when fiber is sourced from lands in North America
that are not certified.
* Logger training: Has expanded logger training requirements to
address invasive exotic plants and animals, special sites, and
emerging technologies and markets such as carbon offsets and
bioenergy.
* Certified loggers: Recognizes the emergence of logger
certification programs, and requires, where possible, that program
participants promote and support these programs.
* International labor laws: Ensures that activities in SFI-certified
forests respect the rights of workers and labor representatives
according to the core conventions of the International Labour
Organization (ILO).
* Research: Expands the definition of relevant research to include
environmental and social benefits, and environmental performance
of forest products.
* Best Management Practices: Program participants must follow best
management practices, which means there are fewer issues around
water quality and soil disturbance.
* Forests with Exceptional Conservation Value: Clarifies the term
“Forests with Exceptional Conservation Value,” and makes it clear
they include areas with critically imperiled and imperiled species
and communities.
* Biodiversity: Promotes the conservation of biodiversity hotspots
and high-biodiversity wilderness areas as defined by Conservation
International.
* Emerging Topics: Recognizes that sustainable forestry makes an
important contribution to addressing climate change and adapting
to changing ecosystems.
* Biotechnology: Addresses the use of genetically modified trees
under the research objective, because genetically modified trees
are not commercially grown or available in North America.
* Public Reporting: Requirements for public reporting have become a
new objective for greater emphasis and transparency.

The SFI 2010-2014 Standard took effect on January 1, 2010 and participants have up to one year to implement the changes. The review process was launched in June 2008 and included two public comment periods and seven regional workshops.

$200M refinery to convert wood products into fuel, electricity

$200M refinery to convert wood products into fuel, electricity
Nashville Business Journal
Another green energy company is coming to Tennessee, but this one doesn’t have anything to do with solar power, unless you count photosynthesis.
Hawaii-based ClearFuels Technology has agreed to partner with Hughes Hardwood to develop a biorefinery in Collinwood. ClearFuels will invest approximately $200 million to develop the facility, which will convert 1,000 tons a day of leftover wood products into diesel or jet fuel. It is expected to produce 16 million gallons of diesel and 4 million gallons naphtha, a hydrocarbon product that can be used in the production of gasoline. It is also expected to produce six to eight megawatts of electricity.

The biorefinery is expected to employ 50 people when it opens in late 2013 or early 2014.

Gov. Phil Bredesen and Community Development Commissioner Matt Kisber joined Warren Davis, ClearFuels’ vice president of commercial development, and Bill Hughes, president of Hughes Hardwood, in making the announcement today. ClearFuels is expected to break ground in late 2011.

“Tennessee’s nationally recognized business climate and our demonstrated commitment to the clean energy industry create fertile ground for partnerships like this one between ClearFuels and Hughes Hardwood,” Gov. Bredesen said in a news release. “Alternative fuels are a pillar of Tennessee’s green portfolio, and today’s investment in Collinwood is an affirmation of our state’s important role in the continued growth of this emerging sector.”

The project is one of several that ClearFuels is pursuing in the Southeast, Hawaii and internationally, targeting rural areas with wood mills, sugar mills and other biomass processing facilities. According to its Web site, the company plans to build five biorefineries in the U.S. by 2015. Together, they would produce 100 million gallons of fuel and 30 megawatts of power.

All commercial facilities will be located with existing sugar mills or wood products facilities, a strategy that will reduce capital and operating costs and increase operating efficiencies of the integrated biorefineries.

“The concept of biomass harvesting will revolutionize the logging industry in the South,” said Mike Yeager, land manager, Hughes Hardwood said in a news release. “Landowners who prefer biomass contractors over a conventional harvest will see both economic advantages and a more attractive post-harvest site. Every landowner Hughes Hardwood has assisted has had an issue with disposing of the remaining residual fiber. Now I can offer a profitable solution to that problem.”

Collaborative Process for the Development of a New National Forest Planning Rule

On behalf of the US Forest Service, we would like to invite you to participate in the collaborative process for the development of a new National Forest planning rule. In a speech on August 14, 2009, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack called for a new rule to guide the development of National Forest plans. He specifically charged the Forest Service with creating the new rule using a collaborative process. On December 18, 2009 the Forest Service issued a Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an environmental impact statement for a new planning rule, outlining the collaborative process and suggesting a set of principles and questions that might be used to help develop the planning rule. The collaborative process provides numerous avenues for contributing meaningful input for the agency’s decision making process and allows diverse interests to come together to explore critical issues. The input will be used by the USDA Forest Service rule writing team in the development of the draft environmental impact statement and proposed rule.

The process includes a Science Forum, National and Regional Roundtables, Tribal collaboration and consultation, and an electronic discussion forum at the Planning Rule Blog to engage, educate, encourage meaningful dialogue, and gain as much input as possible from interested stakeholders. The Science Forum and all roundtables will be open, public forums. Notes from the various roundtables will be synthesized and posted for further feedback opportunities. The national roundtables will include a webcast component with links to the planning rule blog to allow for participation by those unable to attend the events in person; webcasting may also be available for some of the regional roundtables. The NOI and additional information about all the different ways to participate is available at the Forest Service Planning Rule Website. Pre-registration at the in-person events is strongly requested as far in advance as possible – preferably one week prior to any meeting(s) you plan to attend.

SCIENCE FORUM: March 29 – 30, 2010 in Washington DC is being convened by the USDA Forest Service with support from Booz Allen Hamilton. Panels of scientists will present the latest science on topics relevant to the development of the planning rule. The key themes from the science forum will help frame the collaborative discussions at the regional and national roundtables that will follow. Please pre-register here: www.fsnationalmeetings.eventbrite.com. If you have questions concerning special needs or to request sign language interpretation, contact Kathryn Hite at 703-412-7494 or by email at hite_kathryn@bah.com by March 22, 2010.

Three NATIONAL ROUNDTABLES are being convened by the Forest Service with support from the US Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution (USIECR) and the Meridian Institute. Your attendance at all three meetings is encouraged! Please pre-register here: www.fsnationalmeetings.eventbrite.com. If you have questions concerning special needs or to request sign language interpretation, contact Danielle Youngblood at (202) 354-6451 or dyoungblood@merid.org at least a week before the scheduled roundtable.

First National Roundtable - April 1-2, 2010 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington DC. This meeting will engage attendees in dialogue about the planning rule and will solicit focused input on how the planning rule should address restoration, climate change, watershed health and biodiversity (NOI substance principles 1-4).

Second National Roundtable - April 20-21, 2010 in Washington DC (specific location TBD). This meeting will engage attendees in dialogue about the planning rule and to solicit focused input on how the planning rule should address the social, economic and cultural contribution of NFS lands to surrounding communities; provide for effective collaboration; consider the relationship between national forests and surrounding lands; and use the latest in planning science (NOI substance principle 5 and process principles 1-3).

Third National Roundtable - May 11-12, 2010 in Washington DC (specific location TBD). This meeting will allow stakeholders to discuss and build upon the synthesized results from the Science Forum and the preceding national and regional roundtables.

To encourage broad participation the Forest Service, through the National Forest Foundation, is offering the opportunity to apply for travel support (flight and/or ground transportation and/or hotel) to attend the national roundtables. These funds are targeted toward individuals who would not be able to attend without such assistance. This assistance will help ensure that multiple stakeholder perspectives are represented in the planning rule dialogue. Additional information and an application are available at http://www.nationalforests.org/conserve/learning/planning-rule-travel-assistance.

REGIONAL ROUNDTABLES are being conducted throughout April in locations around the country. The roundtables will engage stakeholders in dialogue about the planning rule, and provide opportunities for stakeholders to explore issues of particular relevance in each Forest Service region. Dates, locations, and registration links are available at the Forest Service Planning Rule Website.

Secretary Vilsack’s charge to the Forest Service gives all stakeholders a unique opportunity to play a vital role in the development of a new National Forest Service planning rule that draws on the best elements of previous rulemaking efforts, while considering new scientific knowledge as well as the evolving values and priorities for forest and ecosystem management.

Please join in this exciting endeavor. Thank you!

The Meridian Institute Team

www.merid.org