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Ohio Forests Growing Greener

The Nature Conservancy supports Gov. Strickland's move toward certification

DUBLIN, OHIO — January 8, 2008 — Ohio’s state-owned forests will join the ranks of public forests nationwide that are recognized as being managed sustainably, if the Ohio Department of Natural Resources successfully completes “green” certification.

Gov. Ted Strickland has directed ODNR’s Division of Forestry to pursue certification through two internationally recognized organizations – the Sustainable Forestry Initiative and the Forest Stewardship Council. The directive affects all 20 state forests, covering 190,000 acres including some of Ohio’s best forest habitat.

Third-party forest certification is a voluntary, market-based conservation tool designed to promote environmentally responsible forest management. Participants agree to a set of standards that are designed to protect natural values such as native plant and animal communities and water quality, in addition to providing a sustainable supply of timber. They submit routinely to audits by a third-party certification organization to ensure that they are following these practices.

“The Nature Conservancy applauds the Governor for pursuing certification for Ohio’s forests,” said Rebecca Smith, acting State Director of The Nature Conservancy in Ohio. “This type of market-based solution to habitat protection links one of Ohio’s most valuable natural resources to the growing demand for green-certified goods.”

Forests managed under certification protocols have long-term management plans and a “chain of custody” requirement to track ownership of timber as it moves from the sustainably managed forest to the consumer.

“Consumers who buy certified timber products know that their purchases come from forests managed in an environmentally-sensitive manner,” Smith said. “Certification will help protect both the economic investment Ohio has made in its forests as well as the recreational values and the diversity of Ohio’s plant and animal life.”

Certifying Ohio’s forests also will increase the local supply of certified wood products for Ohio’s wood products industry and will make timber from Ohio state forests more marketable worldwide. The movement toward third-party forest certification has grown steadily since it began in the mid-1990s, and public forests in many surrounding states already are managed under certification systems. Pennsylvania, Michigan, Indiana and Minnesota all have certified their state forests within the past 10 years.

Ohio’s state forests provide habitat for a wide range of plant and animal species, including wild turkey, bobcat and dozens of migratory bird species like the cerulean warbler. The forests also act as natural filters for drinking water and help prevent flooding and erosion.

Ohio’s forests also produce some of the best hardwood timber in the country, and a 2006 study by the Ohio State University shows the state’s forest products industry contributes $15.1 billion to Ohio’s economy annually, employs more than 119,000 people and generates more than $4 billion in payroll.

Read more about the greening of Ohio's forests in the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 102 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org.