The National Wood Flooring Association has formed the Forest Stewardship Council Procurement Group, with the aim of reviewing and developing systems for private landowners who want to adopt FSC certification.

According to NWFA communications director Anita Howard, small landowners own approximately 270 million acres of U.S. forests, but only 2.5 million acres (less than 1 percent) are FSC-certified. “The Procurement Group is trying to combine landowners into a larger group, and remove some of the barriers of certification,” Howard said.

The NWFA’s FSC Procurement Group is spearheaded by a steering committee that includes manufacturers and industry groups both inside and outside of flooring. Members include: Don Finkell, Anderson Hardwood Floors (chair); Neil Poland, Mullican Flooring (vice-chair); Ed Korczak, NWFA; and Jason Grant, NWFA advisor.

Other members include Lewis Fix, Domtar; Ian Hanna, FSC Family Forests Alliance and FSC-US; Robert Hrubes and Dave Wager, Scientific Certification Systems; Linda Kramme, World Wildlife Fund-US; Fran Price, the Nature Conservancy; Eric Smith, Kapstone Paper; Karen Steer, Tropical Forest Trust and FSC-US; and Lisa Stocker, Rainforest Alliance/TREES program.