| In response to societal concerns regarding the sustainability of forest management by the forest products industry, forest products companies are adopting sustainable forest management. To maintain and improve performance, companies are utilizing the environmental management systems (EMS) framework. An industry-wide survey was conducted to measure the development of EMS to implement sustainable forest management on industrial lands and within wood procurement operations. The results indicated that wood procurement management systems are less developed than industrial forestland management systems. Operations with production capacities greater than 30 million board feet, more than 500 employees, and those participating in the SFI standard had moderately or well developed management systems. Sawmills producing less than 10 million board feet, especially those not adhering to forest management standards had poorly or undeveloped management systems. Operations with poorly or undeveloped management systems will have difficulty improving forest management and competing for future wood supplies. |
