Forest Certification at Saint John's Arboretum

The woods of Saint John’s are in great shape—you might not be surprised to hear me say that, but are you willing to take my word for it?  Well now you won’t have to.  In the spring of 2002, Saint John’s will receive the final documents certifying that the forests on the Abbey’s 2,500 acres are “well managed.”   This high accolade follows over a year of extensive review and audits by SmartWood, an affiliate of the internationally recognized Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).  Completion of this audit puts Saint John’s in the forefront of the “green” certification movement. 

What is “green” certification?

First of all, although they share the name, green certification is not associated with the Green political party.  It does, however, share characteristics with the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval or the United Laboratories (UL) stamp found on almost every electrical appliance and light bulb.  These well-known certifiers provide a service in assuring us, through an independent testing and review process, that the appliances we buy are safe and well made.

A few years ago, several major environmental groups came to agree that it would be hypocritical for people who use wood products (almost everyone) to be opposed to all timber harvests.  But they wanted to provide some way to assure concerned, responsible consumers that the wood they used was grown and harvested sustainably.  Together, these groups formed the FSC and established ten guiding principles covering the ecological, economic, and social aspects of forest operations.  Their standards are quite detailed, but basically ask these questions: 1) Do you have a long-range plan for the care and management of your forests, and does that plan include a broad range of ecological, economic, and social factors?   2) Is your plan scientifically justified?  3) Do you follow your plan? 

Another important aspect of the process is the use of independent, third-party auditors.  As reinforced by the Enron-Arthur Anderson debacle, this is key to the credibility of an audit.  (A quick illustration: if your daughter tells you she is the smartest kid in math, that is a first-party opinion; if her teachers and classmates tell you, that is a second-party opinion; finally, if she gets similar results from her ACT and SAT scores, that is an objective, third- party conclusion.)  They also adopted a process for auditing cooperating wood harvesting and manufacturing operations.   The first certifications were completed for European markets and focused on tropical hardwoods.  (See www.fscus.org for more information.)

  Since that time, the concept has grown and now reaches worldwide markets.  Forest product suppliers have embraced the need to restore the consumer’s confidence in the sustainability of forestry practices, with companies like Home Depot committing to the use of certified wood.  Demand has grown so quickly, in fact, that, like ACT and SAT, there are now competing certification systems in the United States.

Why did Saint John’s undergo certification?

Saint John’s has a long history of using the forest wisely.  The Benedictine owners have a deep and enduring belief in responsible stewardship of the land and have done a great job of caring for the forests here.  But any organization can benefit from a well-done audit, often gaining valuable information on how to make a good operation even better.  Father Paul Schwietz began this process for several reasons, the first being to provide a public statement of the quality of the forest management here.  (I think he was pretty confident in the outcome of the audit.)  Second, he saw certification as a method of enhancing credibility with other forest landowners so Saint John’s Arboretum could demonstrate and teach sustainable forestry.

Finally, certification provides an opportunity to enhance awareness.  Most folks, including many students here, are not aware that nearly all of the wood they see around them at Saint John’s comes from the “well managed” Saint John’s forest and is made into fine furniture at the Saint John’s Abbey woodworking shop.  Certification provides a chance to trademark products and create an understanding of the relationship between the woods and the wood users. 

By Thomas Kroll

This article appeared in the Vol. 5, Number 1 (Spring 2002) Sagatagan Seasons newsletter.