If MixedWood is defined by one idea, it would be this:  Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) will always be hard.  So SFM certification programs - the tools we use to bringing SFM products to market - should not make it harder. Chain of Custody (CoC) certification is, of course, the most widely applied of our SFM certification tools.  It should be simple.  But, as we all know, it is not.  Responsibility for over-complicating CoC is shared:  PEFC, SFI, and FSC all played a role.  But FSC are...

We have promised several times recently to write more about the FSC Controlled Wood revision process.  Despite keen interest (and a lot of good intentions), this project kept getting postponed.  One very good reason is the sheer complexity of the topic.  But that - after all - is just an excuse.  And - as we have said before - Chain of Custody should be easy!  So we will try to summarize the situation as best we can. Controlled Wood (CW) = Due Diligence (DDS) It is helpful to remember that the...

Readers will, by now, be very aware of the important update and revision that FSC has begun for its central Chain of Custody (CoC) standard - FSC-STD-40-004.  If you have not yet contributed to the discuss and provided FSC with your own feedback, we urge you to do so soon.  The official 1st public consultation period ends on 29 February 2015. MixedWood provided some initial feedback late last year when the discussion draft was first released - including an annotated copy of the discussion...

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is currently engaged in an important update to its central Chain of Custody (CoC) standard.  The discussion draft of version 3 of FSC-STD-40-004 is the result of over 2 years of work by a small working committee and was published for the first time after many delays in December 2014.  The first public comment period ends on 28 February 2015.  We encourage everyone with an interest in this document to provide FSC staff with your feedback. Concurrently with...

With just 2 weeks remaining in the public comment period for the Forest Stewardship Council's (FSC) important update to it's Chain of Custody (CoC) standard, many stakeholders are trying to squeeze time into their busy schedules to consider the proposed new language and provide constructive feedback.  MixedWood has completed a preliminary review - pointing out a number of areas that still need work.  We intend to have some additional analysis posted quite soon. While waiting for stakeholders...

Here in the US, news outlets are very busy today, anticipating the arrival of a major winter storm which threatens to bury Boston and New York under 2-3 feet (60-90 cm) of fresh snow.   Combined with high winds, frigid temperatures, and coastal flooding, the storm should keep a lot of folks very busy this week. At MixedWood's office, in the mountains of Northern New England, we're used to snow, and hoping the big, coastal storm will provide a few quiet days to catch up on some overdue desk...