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Forest Stewardship

Making Sustainable Forest Management Accountable to the Highest Standards

We believe sustainable forestry is a worthy and critical investment, and we welcome independent auditors who ensure we are upholding rigorous, science-based practices.

By opening our forests to voluntary, third-party assessments, we have achieved certification to the world’s two leading sustainable forest management standards across 100% of our owned and operated lands. These certifications help us ensure that our timberlands can provide a steady supply of forest products—both now and in the future. They also support our forest ecosystems and neighboring communities by ensuring natural habitats, clean air and water and so much more. Our certifications include:

Sustainable Forestry Initiative® (SFI)

Green Diamond’s Washington, Oregon, Montana and Southeast timberlands are certified under the SFI Forest Management Standard. Founded in 1994, SFI is the largest forestry certification program in North America. We verify our compliance on an annual basis through extensive third-party audits. The following are examples of requirements set forth under the SFI Forest Management Standard:

Learn more about the Sustainable Forestry Initiative.

  • • Maintain forest productivity:
    • Use long-term harvest projections
    • Protect the soil
    • Track the growth of young seedlings
    • Control insects, fire and other damaging agents
  • • Protect fish and wildlife:
    • Maintain and create habitats, including by leaving habitat-related stream buffers, standing trees and downed logs in place
  • • Ensure cool, clean water:
    • Keep streams and wetlands shaded
    • Maintain and upgrade roads to minimize sediment in streams
    • Prevent erosion by carefully planning harvests
  • • Consider aesthetics:
    • Engage in landscape planning that considers the size, shape, location and timing of harvests
  • • Protect special sites and biological diversity:
    • Map and protect sites of cultural, geological, historical and ecological importance on our lands
  • • Reach out:
    • Educate landowners, consulting foresters, contractors and the general public about sustainable forestry
  • • Conduct and contribute to research:
    • Foster further scientific understanding of forest management and its effects on the landscape
  • • Continually improve:
    • Raise the bar on sustainable management of forests for the long term

Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) Standard:

Green Diamond’s California timberlands are certified under the FSC’s Forest Management Standards. Green Diamond also maintains FSC’s Chain of Custody certification for its wood chip export business.

FSC is an independent, nonprofit organization. Its mission is to promote environmentally sound, socially beneficial and economically prosperous management of the world's forests. Certification is voluntary and employs rigorous standards to establish responsible forest management. By adhering to these standards, we ensure best practices that benefit both current and future generations. Three pillars of FSC’s certification programs include:

  • • Environmentally sound:
    • Protecting and maintaining natural communities and high-conservation-value forests.
  • • Socially beneficial:
    • Respecting the rights of workers, communities and indigenous peoples.
  • • Economically viable:

    • Encouraging the efficient use of the forest’s multiple products and services to ensure economic viability.

Learn more about California Timberlands internal evaluation reports, management plans, historical documents, and monitoring reports.