Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification, like an organic label for food, assures consumers that wood products stamped with the FSC label come from a well-managed forest.

Some lumber comes from forest clear-cuts the size of small towns, causing untold damage to wildlife habitat, local water supplies, and soil fertility.  Moreover, despite all that is known about the dangers of forest destruction, many timber companies continue to harvest trees faster than they can regenerate.  This is unsustainable - for humans, wildlife, and forests.

So, the next time you lay down new hardwood flooring, put up shelves in your child's room, or build a doghouse, remember that not all wood products are the same.

Many landowners and some timber companies are showing their commitment to the environment, and in turn to human well-being, by growing and harvesting lumber with sustainability in mind.  Many of these landowners have undergone Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification proving that their working forests are environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable.  This means these working forests address the needs of local communities, tribes, and workers as well as continue to perform the many services they provide - maintaining clean air, clean water, and soil fertility.

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Sustainable FSC lumber comes from forests all over the world that continue to be nurtured as forests!  FSC certified forests are places in which mammals, insects, birds, reptiles, and human communities have an equal stake.  Sustainable forestry leaves working forests naturally diverse - great old trees tower over young saplings, conifers mingle with deciduous, and they continue to be viable places for birds and other wildlife to find food and shelter and raise their young.  In essence, even though trees are harvested from these forests to be shaped into lumber and other wood products for human use, the cycle of diverse life, growth and death that defines a forest continues with reduced disturbance.

• Greater than 247 million acres (~100 million hectares) are FSC certified worldwide. Over 60 million (~24 million hectares) of those acres are located in North America.

*Remember to look for the FSC logo on your building materials and know that your dollar is going to support sustainable forestry practices*