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See Also

(2010 March) FSC-US Open Letter on Changes to LEED

(2010) Failings of the Third Draft of the Forest Certification Benchmark

Background on USGBC and LEED benchmark

Legal Attack by Conventional Industry

FSC in North America

(2009) USGBC Comment Period on LEED benchmark

(2008) FSC-US Comments on LEED Benchmark

Learn more about LEED

FAQs about FSC and LEED

 

June 29, 2010

An Open Letter from FSC-US President Corey Brinkema

Re: USGBC’s Fourth Draft of the Forest Certification Benchmark Rewards Status Quo Forestry

Those with a stake in the stewardship of the world’s forests have until Sunday July 4th at 5 pm PST to file comments on the 4th draft of the USGBC Forest Certification Benchmark. We urge you to make your voices heard and let USGBC know that the current Benchmark still falls far short of “exemplary forestry“ and permits certification systems to be dominated and controlled by proponents of status quo forestry, rather than balanced between economic, social, and environmental interests.

While the 4th draft of the Benchmark contains some positive revisions from the previous version, it nevertheless remains a substantial lowering of the bar compared with FSC’s international Principles and Criteria and multi-stakeholder governance system. Under the current proposal, a forest certification system could be recognized by USGBC by simply meeting the prerequisite criteria. For comparison, based on our own assessment of the current benchmark draft, FSC meets all of the draft prerequisite criteria as well as 23 out of 29 (79%) of the optional credits. Should this version of the Benchmark go to USGBC membership ballot, the Forest Stewardship Council will be compelled to recommend a “NO” vote.

We respectfully ask fellow proponents of forest stewardship to submit their comments on the proposed changes to ensure that USGBC does not surrender to pressure from the timber industry to reward status quo conventional forestry. Here is what you can do:

  • Make your voice heard. Review and comment on the fourth draft of USGBC’s Forest Certification Benchmark by this coming Sunday, July 4th. You need not be a USGBC member to express your opinion but you must register your contact information with the USGBC. A strong rebuke of the proposed weakening of the MRc7 Certified Wood credit is needed now. A copy of our summary comments are here.

  • Prepare to vote. If you are a USGBC member, you must opt in to the consensus body by Wednesday July 21st to be eligible to vote on the final proposed benchmark and MRc7 credit revision. It you already opted in during the 3rd Comment Period, you do not need to do so again.

  • Monitor the final stages of this process closely. The details of the benchmark and credit revision are critically important. If the ballot proposal fails to adequately protect our forests and forest communities, USGBC members have the ability to vote down the proposed changes to LEED. FSC-US will contact you to make our actual voting recommendation known once a final USGBC ballot becomes public (now anticipated in August 2010).

Thank you!

For more information contact: Corey Brinkema, 612.812.1500; cbrinkema@fscus.org