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AHVS program verifies sustainable forests

Works with 12-state Appalachian region

Heath E. Combs -- Furniture Today, April 9, 2008

HIGH POINT -- In March, the American Home Furnishings Alliance said it will accept the Appalachian Hardwood Verified Sustainable program as meeting its certified wood requirement for its new Sustainable by Design program.

The AHFA also recognizes programs sponsored by the Forest Stewardship Council and Sustainable Forestry Initiative.

The Appalachian Hardwood Verified Sustainable program was unveiled last year by the Appalachian Hardwood Manufacturers Inc., an 80-year-old hardwood lumber trade organization based in High Point. The AHMI represents 215 companies in 344 counties through a 12-state Appalachian region, stretching from Georgia to New York.

The AHVS program is based on tree counts, whereas FSC and SFI programs rely on third-party audits of companies participating in their program, paid for by those companies.

The AHVS program uses two decades of statistics gathered by the U.S. Forest Service’s Southern Research Station Forest Inventory and Analysis program. Among its findings were that trees with a diameter of at least 11 inches increased from 57% of all acres in 1990 to 64% of all acres in 2004.

The U.S. Forest Service research also shows the timberland in AHMI’s counties remained relatively stable with an estimated 65.1 million acres of timberland in 1990 and 65.4 million acres in 2004.

“We are growing far more trees than are being harvested. A manufacturer can be assured of using a sustainable resource in their product if they specify Appalachian,” said AHMI President Tom Inman.

The AHMI believes U.S. Forestry Service tree count statistics show that Appalachian forests go beyond basic sustainability. Its data puts net annual growth in the region as more than 2.29 trees to every one tree harvested, exceeding annual harvest levels.

The AHMI’s verified sustainable program is also more manageable, according to the group, because state and federal laws require that loggers comply with best management practices.
Inman said the Appalachian region differs from other parts of the world where forest certification may be needed to monitor logging standards or guard against illegal logging practices.

The AHMI’s program verifies that hardwood lumber comes from a sustainably managed region without the substantial costs of annual independent audits, Inman said.

With FSC certifications, companies receive contract certificates and are judged by criteria stemming from 10 principles. Forests are then audited and monitored by third-party organizations.

SFI certification maintains rigorous standards with chain of custody for forest management and third-party audits.

Inman acknowledged that the AHMI’s program is not as intensive as those of the audit-based programs of the FSC and SFI.

“We’re not a certification program. It’s not audited -- we say that up front. If you want to do that, you can do the FSC or SFI. (But) if they want to be assured they are receiving a sustainable resource, we can provide that to them.”

Almost half of the AHMI’s members are enrolled in the verified sustainable program now.

The AHMI also has a pilot program with the SFI to offer forest and product certification to members. The program offers members access to a third-party audited certification program at a substantial savings.

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