Certification update

All of the Wisconsin's state forests, totaling 512,000 acres and representing fiver per cent of the state's forest land, were dual-certified in 2004 under the Forest Stewardship Council and the American Forest and Paper Association's Sustainable Forest Initiative. Certification has been defined as a means of ensuring that forests are managed with responsible forestry practices. National forest lands account for about ten percent of Wisconsin's forests, and they are in the process of becoming certified. Many of the non-industrial private forests became certified through their participation in Winconsin's Managed Forest Law (MFL). The paper company lands were among the first to become certified, in part due to the influence of the six hundred pound paper-consuming gorilla, Time, Inc., which purchases more than 700 tons of paper a year from more than 50 paper mills.