International expectations for sustainable forestry: a view from the U.S. forest industry

Today several global forces are raising expectations that forestry must be practiced on a sustainable basis. This is true for forestry as practiced in tropical, temperate, and boreal regions, as well as in developed and developing countries. Several institutional processes are in place to develop criteria for and indicators of sustainable forestry. As customers and consumers have become more knowledgeable, they are becoming more demanding about the environmental attributes of the products they buy. Forest products companies and forest landowners who wish to maintain access to these more demanding markets will need to provide assurances of their commitment to sustainable forestry practices.Forest landowners and forest products manufacturers in Washington, Oregon, and California are currently better positioned to meet these expectations than are producers in other regions. In these western states, state forest practices laws and regulations are generally consistent with emerging international criteria and indicators of sustainable management.However, U.S. competitors in such countries as Canada and Sweden are acting rapidly to establish sustainable forestry practices, and to communicate their commitments to their stakeholders and customers. The assurance of sustainable forestry practices is now the latest means by which environmentally aware and demanding customers and consumers differentiate among forest products producers.