U.S. plywood producer promises to protect forests

The nation's largest plywood producer announced it will no longer buy timber from environmentally sensitive areas. "Georgia-Pacific, which makes wood and fiber products, announced the plan with three environmental groups," Ray Henry of The Associated Press reports. "Activists said the company's new policy goes a step beyond conservation policies set by other firms by using a scoring system backed by satellite and other mapping technologies to identify protected forests." Georgia-Pacific will also discourage landowners from clearing hardwood forests under the new policy.

"The policy is a product of seven years of discussions started when the Rainforest Action Network pressured major Georgia-Pacific customers — including Home Depot and Lowe's — over their wood supply," Henry writes. The policy is nonbinding, meaning Georgia-Pacific faces only embarrassment if it fails to comply. "We continue to believe it is possible to operate in a way that is environmentally responsible and also economically sound," said Jim Hannan, Georgia-Pacific's CEO and president. "This policy also gives us the opportunity to address issues of increasing interest to our customers and to consumers."

Under the policy, "Georgia-Pacific will not buy pine fiber from lands that were formerly natural hardwood forests and were cleared after July 2008 to plant pine plantations, a process called conversion," Henry writes. The policy also labels "some areas 'endangered forests' and 'special areas' that Georgia-Pacific has agreed will be off-limits," Henry writes. Georgia-Pacific will determining what areas qualify for special designation using a scoring system that takes into account concentrations of rare and endangered species, rare forest types, roadless areas and places already afforded government protection. (Read more)