Weyerhaeuser establishes procurement preference for American Tree Farm System®-certified wood

Jul 09, 2012. /Lesprom Network/. Weyerhaeuser Company announced its preference for purchasing wood that is certified under the American Tree Farm System®. This decision aligns with the company's commitment to responsible fiber sourcing, as the company said in the press release received by Lesprom Network. For more than 89,000 family forest owners sustainably managing 27 million acres of forestland in the American Tree Farm System, the Weyerhaeuser preference for their certified wood can make a real difference in the viability of Tree Farms and the economic health of rural communities. "Weyerhaeuser's announcement is just what certified Tree Farmers have been waiting for," said Tom Martin, president and CEO of the American Forest Foundation. "Healthy forests need healthy markets because protecting your trees against insects, disease and catastrophic fire can be expensive. These landowners are hardworking people who want to keep their forests as forests, and keep them in their family." "Weyerhaeuser's continued commitment to ensuring woodland owners have the tools to manage sustainably is laudable," Martin added. The American Tree Farm System is the largest and oldest woodland system in America. Certified Tree Farmers meet the highest standards of sustainability and manage their lands for water, wildlife, wood and recreation. The system is a program of the American Forest Foundation. Weyerhaeuser's corporate sustainability goals include demonstrating forest stewardship by certifying its timberlands to sustainable forestry standards. All the timberlands Weyerhaeuser owns or manages in North America are certified to the Sustainable Forestry Initiative system. In addition, all the company's manufacturing facilities in North America are certified to the SFI Certified Sourcing Standard. The company supports the use of internationally accepted sustainable forestry standards, including the use of independent, external auditors that verify a company's commitment to responsible sourcing. Weyerhaeuser's responsible fiber sourcing practices are guided by its wood procurement policy and implementation guidelines. "Most of our customers want certified wood and paper products," said Dan Fulton, president and CEO of Weyerhaeuser Company. "There is widespread understanding of the value of certification, and encouraging best practices remains by far the most important role for certification. "Buyers want to know their wood comes from sustainably managed forests," Fulton added. "To give our customers what they want, we need more wood from certified Tree Farms." Weyerhaeuser Company, one of the world's largest forest products companies, began operations in 1900.