Millar Western achieves SFI forest management certification
Millar Western’s Whitecourt woodlands operations have achieved certification under the Sustainable Forest Initiative (SFI) 2005-2009 Standard for sustainable forest management (SFM), following a third-party audit in November. Millar Western was previously certified under the CSA-Z809 SFM standard but made the shift to SFI because it recognizes volume- as well as land-based tenures. “SFI holds us accountable to the highest sustainable forest management standards while enabling us to certify fibre drawn from both tenure systems under which we harvest timber,” said Steve Lord, Millar Western’s Director of Pulp Sales and Marketing. “This allows us to increase the percentage of certified fibre in our pulp and lumber products and better meet the needs of our customers.”
Millar Western, like all Canadian forest companies operating on government-owned land, is already legally required to manage forests in a sustainable manner as a condition of its operating license. It additionally seeks third-party certification to assure customers of its high standards in forest management and timber procurement. As well as SFI SFM certification, the company holds ISO 14001 certification for its environmental management system and chain of custody certification under the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) and the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC®) standards. Millar Western also continues to maintain certification under the Alberta industry’s FORESTCARE program, one of North America’s first forest certification programs. “It is our goal to market products that are not only of the highest quality but that also carry strong environmental credentials that have been independently verified under well-regarded, internationally-recognized programs,” added Dave Anderson, Manager of Lumber Sales.
The SFI 2005-2009 Standard promotes sustainable forest management through nine principles, 13 objectives, 34 performance measures and 102 indicators developed by professional foresters, conservationists, scientists and others. The standard addresses key environmental, social and economic forest values, from water quality to bio-diversity, and all aspects of forestry operations, from consultation through harvesting and regeneration.
Millar Western is an Alberta-based company that has been in the forest products business for more than a century. Headquartered in Edmonton, it produces dimensional lumber at sawmills in Whitecourt, Boyle and Fox Creek, and bleached chemi-thermo-mechanical pulp (BCTMP) at its pulp mill in Whitecourt.