Tables for Comparison of Two Forest Certification Systems And Oregon Legal Requirements (Fletcher, Adams & Radosevich)

Table 1. Factors guiding the comparison of certification systems and legal requirements.

Program Administration and Process

Sponsor or Administrator

Standard-Setting Process and Participants

Verification Process

Enforcement Protocol

Dispute Resolution Process

Training and Credentialing Required

Public Transparency and Involvement

Forest Planning and Monitoring

Written Plans

Inventory

Sustained Yield

Monitoring

Chain-of-Custody and Labeling

Forest Management Practices

Silviculture

Reforestation

• Regeneration

• Site Preparation

• Genetics

Stand Management

· Stocking Control

· Fertilization

Forest Protection and Health

· Fire and Slash Treatment

· Pests and Pathogens

Access

Harvest and Utilization

Personnel and Supervision

Environmental Considerations

Biological Conservation

· Ecological Function and Long-Term Productivity

· Species Conservation

· Landscape-Scale Concerns

· Exotic Species

· Reserves and Special Areas

Water Resources

Soil Resources

Chemicals

Air Quality

Socioeconomic Considerations

Land Tenure and Use

Community and Cultural Relations

Worker Relations

Economic Viability and Stability

Legal and Other Policy Requirements

Visual Management

Table 2. Comparison and rating of provisions for program administration and process.

Provision	Required By Law	SFI Program	FSC-SCS	FSC-Smart Wood	FSC National Indicators
Sponsor/Administrator	State/Federal Gov.	AF&PA-member organization	For-profit certifier	Nonprofit network of certifiers	FSC-member organization
Standard-Setting Process and Participants	Legislation and Admin. Rules	Originally internal with increasing outside input[1]	Internal with some outside input	Internal with some outside input	Internal with significant outside input
Verification Process	Notifications and plans required with 15-day notice. Inspections at discretion of inspectors	Annual self-reporting required, third-party audits optional. Recertification currently 3-5 years [2]	Third- party assessment required every 5 years, with annual audits	Third- party assessment required every 5 years, with annual audits	Third-party assessment required every 5 years, with annual audits
Enforcement Protocol	Civil and criminal penalties, suspension of operations and repair orders	Noncompliance can lead to loss of membership/ license. Also loss of certified status	Noncompliance can lead to loss of certified status	Noncompliance can lead to loss of certified status	Certifiers must abide by FSC direction or they may lose FSC accrediting
Dispute Resolution Process	Appeals to Board of Forestry and courts	Currently covered by ANSI–RAB dispute resolution process [3]	Certifier and contract with FSC backup specified	Certifier and contract with FSC backup specified	FSC has a formal process for hearing and resolving disputes
Training and Credentialing Required	ODF inspectors have academic and work experience required	Auditors must have formal auditing training	Team members chosen by reputation and curriculae vitae	Team leader must have previous experience; other team members must have expertise in forest type	Not specified
Public Transparency and Involvement	Full public disclosure required for all activities	No individual public reporting or stakeholder input is required. If program participant wishes to publicly proclaim audit results, they do so in collaboration with the verifier [4]	Some stakeholder input and public summary of assessment required	Some stakeholder input and public summary of assessment required	Some public/stakeholder input required

Table 3. Comparison and rating of provisions for forest planning and monitoring.

Elements of planning and monitoring	Required By Law	SFI	FSC-SCS	FSC-Smart Wood	FSC National Indicators
Written Plans	(<) Operations plans sometimes required. (=) For stewardship option, plans required.	(=) Written plan required	(>) Extensive written plan required	(>) Extensive written plan required	(>) Extensive written plan required
Inventory	(<) Inventory required only for selected resources of public interest.	(=) Comprehensive inventory required, including biological and geological resources	(=) Comprehensive inventory required, including a wide range of site parameters	(=) Comprehensive inventory required, including a wide range of site parameters. Special data collection for old growth and non-timber forest products	(=) Comprehensive inventory required, including a wide range of site parameters. Special data collection for high- conservation value forests and non-timber forest products
Sustained Yield	(<) Reforestation requirements help sustain yield over long term	(=) Calculation of sustained yield required	(>) Extensive requirements for calculation of and adherence to sustained yield	(>) Sustained yield includes timber and non-timber resources	(>) Sustained yield includes timber and non-timber resources
Monitoring	(<) Some done by ODF, but little required for operators	(>) Operational monitoring required under continuous improvement objective. Also specific monitoring required for clearcuts, training and public relations	(=) Operational monitoring	(>) Operational monitoring with feedback to operations	(>) Operational monitoring with feedback to operations
Chain of Custody (COC) and Labeling	(<) Log branding required	(NR) Source identified labeling for verified operations has been approved but is not yet available	(>) Full COC and eco-label available	(>) Full COC and eco-label available	(>) Full COC and eco-label available

(NR) item not required by this system

(<) requirements or specificity less than other systems analyzed

(=) requirements substantial and/or equal to other systems analyzed

( >) requirements or specificity greater than other systems analyzed.

Note: Ratings do not represent a judgment of positive or negative impacts of the system provisions, but indicate the relative level of constraints imposed or features offered by the provisions. For example, the three FSC rules examined offer a full chain-of-custody and eco-label so they received a > rating, while the SFI program and Oregon law do not. This does not imply a chain-of-custody and eco-label is better for every producer, but rather that an extra feature is offered by these systems

Table 4. Comparison and rating of provisions for forest management practices.

Management practice	Required by Law	SFI	FSC-SCS	FSC-Smart Wood	FSC National Indicators
Regeneration	(>) Extensive requirements	(=) Clear direction that sites must be promptly reforested after harvests	(=) Clear direction that sites must be promptly reforested after harvests	(=) Clear direction that sites must be promptly reforested after harvests	(=) Clear direction that sites must be promptly reforested after harvests
Site Preparation	(>) Extensive requirements for soil and water protection	(<) Minimal requirements	(NR)	(NR)	(>) Protection of soil and residual trees
Genetics	(=) Use locally adopted sources	(=) GMOs okay if law is followed	(>) GMOs not allowed	(>) GMOs not allowed	(>) GMOs not allowed
Stocking Control	(=)	(NR)	(>) Thinning expected	(>) Thinning expected	(=)
Fertilization	(=) Fertilization allowed	(=) Fertilization allowed	(=) Fertilization allowed, but use of artificial fertilizers discouraged	(=) Fertilization allowed, but use of artificial fertilizers discouraged	(>) Fertility maintained through natural cycles
Fire (including slash treatment)	(>) Extensive directives, mostly for fire control	(=) Wildfire control and prescribed fires	(=) Wildfire control and prescribed fires	(=) Wildfire control and prescribed fires	(=) Wildfire control and prescribed fires
Pests and Pathogens	(=) Control of outbreaks required	(=) Need to control outbreaks	(=) Use of natural cycles to prevent and control outbreaks	(=) Use of natural cycles to prevent and control outbreaks	(=) Use of natural cycles to prevent and control outbreaks
Access	(=) Access necessary for management	(NR)	(=) Access necessary for management	(=) Access necessary for management	(NR)
Harvest and Utilization	(<) No requirements for utilization