FAQ

There are discussions underway to expand the timberlands beyond Oregon into other states and/or federal lands.

No, the Legal Wood Pilot Credit complements the Timber Traceability Pilot Credit.

To date, none. The majority of softwoods and hardwood logs harvested from the U.S. come from low-risk regions. Nonetheless, here is a requirement that the third-party and the manufacturer shall be capable of assessing within the traceability program the risk of illegal sourcing associated with the species and country of harvest and be willing to exercise due care as required by law.

They are public documents and can be adopted without cost. Contact us for further information.

Contact us for further information.

Forest Management Plans in substantial compliance with relevant portions of Guide D7480  or equivalent are applicable to both Responsible and Certified designations. ASTM D7480 copies the requirements of the Montreal Process criteria and indicators for the conservation and sustainable management of temperate and boreal forests.

For more information on forests and countries that document compliance with the Montreal Process (i.e. ASTM D7480), see https://www.montrealprocess.org

By giving credit to states/agencies that enforce statutes, it will incentivize other states/agencies to migrate from voluntary or quasi-regulatory statutes up to regulatory statutes that are enforced in the forests throughout the harvest of timber. It will also provide a better mechanism to trace timber from the harvest to the producer through means of notification.

Certified forests and products are market-based tools that provide market incentives for landowners and producers to follow above-legal requirements for sustainable forestry practices. The rigor of these systems is based on the quality management systems of the organization to be certified and subsequent annual auditing by the third party agency. The benefit of regulatory statutes is the daily enforcement mechanism of a statutory requirement versus a voluntary certification. The former can result in fines and continuous oversight, while the latter is limited to certification termination based on an annual audit. This is why Responsible Sourcing is a good companion to Certified Wood in the same state. It permits the choice of voluntary sustainable forestry while supporting the expanded growth of statutory rules in other states/agencies.

Yes, statutory rules enhance Sustainable Forestry certification by providing enforcement whereas voluntary compliance beyond statutory rules receives market-based recognition.

The intent of Responsible Sourcing was to recognize those forests within North America in low risk regions that are subject to water quality Best Management Practices in accordance with established environmental government agency oversight. This program does not attempt to address timber sourcing in international countries with high risks of illegal logging. The USGBC Timber Traceability Pilot Credit is designed to address this issue.