Earlier this month, Michael T. Goergen Jr. with the Society of American Foresters wrote a well-argued op-ed in the Seattle Times supporting the idea that Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) wood products should be included as part of U.S. green building standards. And today, the Times ran a response from one of the environmental advocates on the other side of the … Read More

The Wall Street Journal today wrote about the financial problems plaguing Sustainable Northwest, a Portland lumberyard that carries mostly Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified wood. Two things, in particular, jumped out from the story. First, the WSJ reporter, Jim Carlton, fell for the idea from some environmental groups that FSC-certified wood is the only wood that can be called “green” or … Read More

The battle by some environmental groups to eradicate the timber industry continues this week with the news that a North Carolina group called the Dogwood Alliance is taking the unusual step of pressuring Kentucky Fried Chicken to stop using Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) paper products and use Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) products instead. First off, we should note that while … Read More

Michael T. Goergen Jr. with the Society of American Foresters had a nice op-ed in the Seattle Times over the weekend. He makes the point that the U.S. Green Building Council, for its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards, should allow wood certified by other groups besides the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) because it would support all the … Read More

The SFI vs. FSC forest certification debate continues, with news that many environmental groups have signed on in support of the Forest Stewardship Council’s (FSC) effort to cut the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) out of the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED standard. According to a post at Treehugger, the Sierra Club, Greenpeace and other groups signed a letter that says … Read More

It’s impossible to predict, but there are signs that the timber industry is at the beginning of an upsurge after taking a hit during the economic downturn. The Portland Business Journal recently wrote about new projections released by the Western Wood Products Association. Demand for lumber in the U.S. is expected to go up by 6 percent this year, bringing … Read More

It’s hard not to get excited about biomass. The wood waste from timber harvesting used to be burned off on-site, which was no use to anyone. But now that same wood waste is a critical and sustainable source of energy. It seems like not a day goes by without news of another exciting biomass initiative. The Chinook Observer on Washington’s … Read More

We strongly encourage people to read these blog posts, and especially to read and provide comments, because sometimes it’s in blog comments, rather than initial blog posts, that key issues are whittled into kernels of clarity — or exposed as extreme bias — for all to see and understand. Progress often has to overcome such bias. It’s a sign of … Read More

The Oregonian recently tried to poke some holes in the idea that woody biomass is a positive thing for the environment. Problem is, the paper’s story seemed to make a better case that biomass is a good thing with wide support, rather than a bad thing that poses problems. No doubt, some environmental groups have raised some opposition to biomass … Read More

Plenty of positive timber news coming out of the Washington Legislature, which is finishing its regular session and going into special session next week. We wanted to mention two bills that passed and will help the cause of working forests. HB 2420 will go a long way toward promoting and protecting the green jobs of the timber industry. It requires … Read More