The Forest Stewardship Council®(FSC) promotes environmentally sound, socially beneficial, and economically prosperous management of the world’s forests. Companies and landowners implement FSC®’s principles and achieve certification through third-party audits. However, FSC® recognizes that not all materials used by manufacturers comes from certified forests. In 2004 they introduced a new FSC® mix label that allows manufacturers to mix FSC®-certified materials in with non-certified materials, or “controlled wood.” FSC®-certificate holders who use controlled wood must mitigate any risks to the forest identified in the US Controlled Wood National Risk Assessment. The Forest Stewards Guild is supporting these mitigation efforts through outreach and education.

The Guild is hosting webinars, crafting educational materials, and doing work on the ground on a range of topics to help illuminate best practices and management considerations to watch for or implement when wanting to source or produce responsible wood products. The goal is to help landowners, loggers, foresters, wood procurement agents, and others in the supply chain know more so they can avoid wood from high-risk forests. While the Guild acknowledges the challenges of working to reduce the risk of controlled wood, we are excited about the opportunity to partner with companies committed to environmentally sound, socially beneficial, and economically prosperous forest management.