Mount Hood Forest watchdogs worry that a federal study could lead to more logging.
[ Oregon ] The U.S. Forest Service is studying how close its management practices at six sites, including the 1.1-million- acre acre Mount Hood National Forest and two other public forests in Oregon, come to meeting independent ‘green’ certification standards. The Forest Service says the goal of its study isn’t to have the public forests green-certified. Instead, the Forest Service says it wants to know how closely its current forest management practices come to meeting the green standards. While millions of predominantly private acres have been voluntarily certified since the early 1990s by the Forest Stewardship Council and its rival, the Sustainable Forest Initiative, the 192 million acres of national forestland remain a virtually untapped ‘green’ market. But enviros worry that the assessment … could ultimately open public forests to more logging under the guise of environmental friendliness.

News notes are courtesy of Southern Forests Network News Notes www.southernsustainableforests.org