Potential Certification of Other DNR Land

As of January 2008, Wisconsin State Forests are the only DNR-owned properties that are included under Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) or Sustainable Forest Initiative (SFI) forest certification. State Forests include about 550,000 acres. Wisconsin DNR Land and Water Divisions are deliberating whether to join in third-party forest certification with Wisconsin State Forests. A scope expansion could add another 1 million acres of Wisconsin State Parks, Wildlife Areas, Natural Areas, Fishery Areas and a variety of smaller properties to the certified land base.

A gap analysis (scoping assessment) for other DNR lands was completed during the last half of 2007 by FSC and SFI auditors. The reports are now available:

• FSC Scoping Report [PDF, 347KB]
• SFI Scoping Report [PDF, 215KB]

Considering the benefits associated with forest certification, the Department will likely proceed with a full FSC-SFI audit of about 1.5 million acres of DNR land in the fall of 2008. This will include a five-year recertification of the Wisconsin State Forest program. Additional information and an opportunity for the public to provide input will be available in the last quarter of 2008.