FSC's US board changes longstanding Federal Lands Policy to address perceived inequity in its system created by exclusion of US Forest Service and BLM forestlands

Audrey Dixon

MINNEAPOLIS , December 19, 2012 (Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)) – After more than a year of input, research, discussion and debate, the FSC-US board of directors approved a change to the longstanding Federal Lands Policy during its November meeting.

The change addresses a perceived inequity in the FSC system, due to the categorical exclusion of a landowner class (US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management forestlands).

The change was communicated to the FSC US membership by board co-chairs Mike Jani and Fran Price in a recent memorandum. In short, the revision allows a standards development process to move forward if a willing landowner is identified.

Should a standards process move forward, the board committed to making it as inclusive as possible by helping raise funds to support meaningful, broad spectrum stakeholder participation.

You can read the memo to the membership here.

You can also review the revised policy here.

And you can read the Exploratory Committee’s report to the board from earlier in 2012 here.

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