PORTLAND, Ore., Oct. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Willamette Industries, Inc. has
become the first major forest products company to receive independent
third-party certification that its forest management practices are in
compliance with standards of the American Forest & Paper Association's (AF&PA)
Sustainable Forestry Initiative(SM) (SFI).
Willamette's 610,000 acres of Oregon forest lands were audited in
mid-September by PricewaterhouseCoopers. The company will receive an
unqualified opinion when the final report is released, meaning that the
company's western timberlands are third-party certified to meet SFI standards.
The audit team consisted of two Registered Professional Foresters, a
former Dean of the Oregon State University School of Forestry, a forest
engineer and a wildlife biologist. They audited Willamette's forest management
policies and records, but spent most of their time in Willamette's forests, at
random sites selected by the auditors themselves, making certain that
Willamette's forest management practices were in compliance with SFI
standards.
PricewaterhouseCoopers gave Willamette special recognition for its forest
practices in several areas: stream rehabilitation programs to enhance fish
survival and passage, interaction with citizens' groups in watershed and
visual quality management, reforestation success, providing additional
wildlife trees beyond requirements and strategically positioning them to
support protection of unique habitats, providing habitat for forest bat
species, engaging in wildlife research and playing a leadership role in
industry committees that affect forest management policy.
PricewaterhouseCoopers also made suggestions to help Willamette maintain
its leadership role in forest management through continuous improvement. These
included: implementing a more detailed process for pre-harvest planning,
enlarging programs to identify rare or uncommon habitats for plants and
wildlife, and expanding the company's current visual management program.
Willamette intends to show substantial progress in these areas when the
western region is re-audited in three years.
Willamette has been growing trees since 1906, when company founder George
Gerlinger bought a sawmill and 1,200 acres of forest land in Oregon. Today the
company manages more than 1.7 million acres. "Our forests are our future,"
says Willamette Chief Executive Officer Duane McDougall. "We manage them with
a long-term view."
According to Marvin Brown, coordinator of Willamette's sustainable
forestry program, the Sustainable Forestry Initiative provides a comprehensive
system of principles, objectives and performance measures designed to sustain
forest values.
"Among other things, the SFI sets rigorous standards for protecting rivers
and streams, improving wildlife habitat and preserving areas of special
significance," Brown says.
In the West, the company's Sustainable Management Program for Timber,
Water Quality and Wildlife ensures that forest growth exceeds harvest levels;
more trees are growing per acre than at the beginning of this decade;
85 percent of harvest areas are replanted within the first planting season,
and the remaining 15 percent are replanted as soon as conditions allow (but
always within the second planting season); all fish-bearing streams and
domestic water supplies are protected with streamside management areas in
permanent forest cover; and 50,000 acres are managed for habitat for
endangered and threatened species and for fish, water quality, and 2,000 sites
in the forest that Willamette has designated special or unique.
The company's remaining 1.1 million acres in the South and East will be
audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers in 2000.
Willamette Industries is an integrated forest products company with more
than 100 manufacturing facilities in the United States, France, Ireland and
Mexico producing a variety of building materials and paper products.
Willamette ranks among the top 10 forest landowners in the United States with
approximately 1.7 million acres of sustainably managed forest lands in Oregon,
Louisiana, Tennessee, Missouri, Arkansas, Texas and the Carolinas.
SOURCE Willamette Industries, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.wii.com
Company News On-Call:
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/971763.html or fax,
800-758-5804, ext. 971763
CONTACT:
Cathy Dunn, 503-273-5642, or Carrie Reese,
503-721-2769, both of Willamette Industries, Inc.
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