The Clemson University Experimental Forest will be able to sell its harvested timber in a wider range of green construction markets after its forest management practices were certified to be sustainable by a third-party group of experts.
The forest’s 17,500 acres are among 103,000 acres of South Carolina timberland to be certified sustainable through a years-long process overseen by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI). The group made the announcement at its annual conference in San Antonio.
“We are certainly gratified that the forestry practices we have been demonstrating here at Clemson since 1954 are being recognized,” said forest manager Knight Cox. “The great benefit to Clemson is that the timber harvested from the Clemson Experimental Forest will now wear the SFI label and can be sold on the green building market.”
The Experimental Forest has been under Clemson’s management since 1939 and is believed to be the largest research and teaching forest contiguous with the main campus of a public university in the U.S. The forest’s day-to-day operations, personnel, equipment, supplies, roads and public recreation facilities are supported solely by the revenue it generates.
Certification means that the management practices being carried out by forest managers meet a rigorous set of 14 independently audited principles that include measures to protect water quality, biodiversity, wildlife habitat and at-risk species.
From Forest Business Network: https://www.forestbusinessnetwork.com/30760/clemson-university-experimental-forest-gets-sfi-certification/