Forest Stewardship Leaders Honored by FSC during Greenbuild Week

SCS Global Services (SCS) congratulates this year’s fifteen FSC® Leadership Award winners, including two companies whose ongoing achievements are certified by SCS: Georgia-Pacific and Redwood Forest Foundation Incorporated/Usal Redwood Forest Company (RFFI/URFC). The Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC) announced the winners on Thursday, Nov. 12th, during the week of the Greenbuild virtual conference.

• Georgia-Pacific was honored for making 100% of its Quilted Northern Ultra Soft and Strong toilet paper FSC certified, supporting the management of 75,000 acres of FSC-certified family forests in the Southeast US, and promoting conservation through its Endangered Forest Program.
• RFFI/URFC earned recognition for restoring 50,000 acres of degraded timberland, restoring 12 miles of salmon habitat and decommissioning 26 miles of streamside roads, while actively serving as advocates for FSC certification.

Brendan Grady, Director of SCS Global Services’ Forest Management Program, extended his congratulations: “It is gratifying to see these companies garner much-deserved attention through the coveted FSC Leadership Award. We look forward to ongoing collaboration with both companies on meeting their sustainability goals.”

“Georgia-Pacific is proud to join FSC and SCS Global in advocating for responsible forest management,” said John Mulcahy, vice president of sustainability for Georgia-Pacific. “As a forest products company, it is important that we work closely with our suppliers, customers, and non-governmental organizations to practice good stewardship and improve our ability to consume fewer resources. We are honored to receive the 2020 FSC Leadership Award and will continue our efforts related to our certification programs, responsible sourcing, conservation initiatives and innovative products.”

In addition to its leadership in the sustainable paper products category, Georgia-Pacific has spearheaded a broad-scale effort to identify, map, and monitor endangered forests within its U.S. sourcing territory.

RFFI/URFC has demonstrated exceptional conservation efforts, including restoring ecosystem functions in harvested areas, decommissioning streamside roads and enhancing salmonid habitat.

“The work we do in the Usal Forest has always been focused on community acquisition of depleted working forests in order to return control of the resources to the local communities that depend upon them. The goal of our management plan is to restore the forest to productivity and long-term sustainability, while at the same time sequestering carbon, providing wood products, and restoring local communities,” said Mark Welther, President & CEO, RFFI/URFC. “We are proud to receive an FSC Leadership Award, which recognizes our innovative forest management, including protection of wildlife habitats and threatened species. We will continue engaging stakeholders and educating our young people to sustain relationships that reinforce our sustainability goals.”

CEO Corey Brinkema, President, Forest Stewardship Council U.S. said, “These two organizations demonstrate the breadth and impact of the FSC system. We congratulate Georgia-Pacific and Redwood Forest Foundation Incorporated/Usal Redwood Forest Company for their commitment to FSC and responsible forest management. We are thrilled to recognize their good work.”

The awards were celebrated virtually this year and winners will receive an FSC-certified wood plaque and digital award, as well as recognition during a December 2nd gathering of FSC North America members. Learn more about FSC Forest Management and Chain of Custody Certification.

About SCS Global Services
SCS Global Services has been a global leader in third-party environmental and sustainability verification, certification, auditing, testing, and standards development for more than three decades. Its programs span a cross-section of industries, recognizing achievements in forestry, green building, consumer product manufacturing, food and agriculture, power generation, and more. Headquartered in Emeryville, California, SCS has representatives and affiliate offices throughout the Americas, Asia/Pacific, Europe and Africa. Its broad network of auditors are experts in their fields, and the company is a trusted partner to many environmental NGOs due to its dedication to quality and professionalism. SCS is a chartered Benefit Corporation, reflecting its commitment to socially and environmentally responsible business practices. For more information visit www.scsglobalservices.com.

About the Forest Stewardship Council
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is a global nonprofit organization that promotes environmentally sound, socially beneficial, and economically prosperous management of forests. FSC was created in 1993 to set the standards by which forests are certified, offering assurance to consumers and businesses that the wood products they buy originate from well-managed forests. 4,500 companies and nearly 160 million acres of forestland are certified under FSC in the United States and Canada. For more information visit www.fsc.org.

About Georgia-Pacific
Based in Atlanta, Georgia-Pacific and its subsidiaries are among the world’s leading manufacturers and marketers of bath tissue, paper towels and napkins, tableware, paper-based packaging, cellulose, specialty fibers, nonwoven fabrics, building products and related chemicals. Our familiar consumer brands include Quilted Northern®, Angel Soft®, Brawny®, Dixie®, enMotion®, Sparkle® and Vanity Fair®. Georgia-Pacific has long been a leading supplier of building products to lumber and building materials dealers and large do-it-yourself warehouse retailers. Its Georgia-Pacific Recycling subsidiary is among the world’s largest traders of paper, metal and plastics. The company operates more than 150 facilities and employs more than 30,000 people directly and creates approximately 89,000 jobs indirectly. For more information, visit: gp.com/about-us. For news, visit: gp.com/news

About Redwood Forest Foundation and Usal Redwood Forest Company
The Usal Redwood Forest Company (URFC) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Redwood Forest Foundation, Inc. (RFFI), a private non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, dedicated to economy, ecology, and social equity in the Redwood Region. As a subsidiary corporation, URFC shares the vision and mission of its parent organization. The Usal Redwood Forest is an almost 50,000 acre redwood forest located in the northwestern corner of Mendocino county on California’s Lost Coast. For more information about URFC visit https://www.usalredwoodforestcompany.com/ and to learn more about RFFI visit https://www.rffi.org/.