Some Foresters Want 'Green' Certification

Green certification of forest products is an emerging market that's gaining ground in places like Washington state that encourage environmentally sound building techniques for big public projects. In addition, major retailers including Home Depot and Lowe's have buying policies that favor certified wood. Most of the flooring Starbucks buys is green certified, and Swedish furniture retailer IKEA is a big buyer, said Michael Washburn, vice president of forestry and marketing for the U.S. chapter of the Forest Stewardship Council. Soon, several western Washington forest owners will band together in their own certification group. At most a five-year contract will cost them $1,000, and they'll get help marketing eco-friendly wood to mills. Their goal is to have 50 or 60 members with some 80,000 certified acres by the end of 2006.