Mt. Hood National Forest
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Forest Management and Stump-to-Forest Gate Chain-of-Custody Certification Case Study Evaluation Report for the: Mt. Hood National Forest Conducted under auspices of the SCS Forest Conservation Program SCS is an FSC Accredited Certification Body Submitted to: USDA Forest Service Mt. Hood National Forest Supervisor’s Office Sandy, Oregon, USA Lead Author: Robert J. Hrubes, Ph.D. Date of Field Evaluation: September 18-22, 2006 Date of Report: November 27, 2006 By: SCIENTIFIC CERTIFICATION SYSTEMS 2200 Powell St. Suite Number 725 Emeryville, CA 94608, USA www.scscertified.com SCS Contact: Dave Wager [email protected] MTHNF Contact: Nancy Lankford, [email protected] 1 Organization of the Report In September 2006, SCS and NSF-ISR conducted a dual simulated certification evaluation of the Mt. Hood National Forest relative to the standards of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI). This report contains the results of the FSC portion of the certification case study. It is important to note that award of FSC certification was not a possible outcome of this evaluation, nor was the Forest Service seeking certification. This document is divided into two sections. Section A provides the public summary and background information required by the Forest Stewardship Council. This section is made available to the general public and is intended to provide an overview of the evaluation process, the management programs and policies applied to the forest, and the results of the evaluation. Section B contains more detailed results and information and is made available only to the client, who is free to make it publicly available if they choose to do so. 2 FOREWORD Scientific Certification Systems, a certification body accredited by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), was retained by The Pinchot Institute for Conservation to conduct a simulated certification evaluation (pilot assessment) of the management of the Mt. Hood National Forest (MTHNF). This was one of five such evaluations that comprise a multi-unit case study, whose aim is to provide the Forest Service with a better understanding of the certification process, and how their management aligns with the FSC standards for forest stewardship. By pre-arranged agreement, these evaluations were not intended to result in the award of certification. An interdisciplinary team of natural resource specialists was empanelled by SCS to conduct the assessment in September 2006. The team collected and analyzed written materials, conducted interviews and completed a five day field and office evaluation of the subject property as part of the simulated certification evaluation. Upon completion of this fact- finding phase, the team determined conformance to the FSC Principles, Criteria, and Regional Indicators in order to ascertain whether award of certification would be warranted, were a genuine certification evaluation to be conducted. The following pages detail the process that was undertaken and the audit team’s findings. Of particular interest, the report identifies several non-conformances relative to the FSC Pacific Coast Regional Standard. As well, the report discusses identified non-conformances relative to a set of “additional considerations” that were developed through a consultative process by SCS prior to the field evaluation. These “additional considerations” attempt to anticipate what might be promulgated by the FSC as supplemental indicators applicable to National Forest management. That is, in the event that a bona fide certification evaluation were to be conducted on the Mt. Hood National Forest (or any other National Forest System unit), the certification standard would entail both a pertinent FSC regional standard as well as a set of endorsed supplemental indicators applicable to the management of National Forests. 3 Foreword................................................................................................................................... 3 Section A- Public Summary and Background Information ...................................................... 6 1.0 GENERAL INFORMATION....................................................................................... 6 1.1 FSC Data Request...................................................................................................... 6 1.2 Management Context................................................................................................. 8 1.2.1 Environmental Context..................................................................................... 8 1.2.2 Socioeconomic Context.................................................................................... 9 1.3 Forest Management Enterprise ................................................................................ 10 1.3.1 Land Use......................................................................................................... 10 1.3.2 Land Outside the Scope of Certification......................................................... 11 1.4 Management Plan.....................................................................................................11 1.4.1 Management Objectives..................................................................................11 1.4.2 Forest Composition......................................................................................... 12 1.4.3 Silvicultural Systems .......................................................................................... 13 1.4.4 Management Systems ..................................................................................... 14 1.4.5 Monitoring System..........................................................................................15 1.4.6 Estimate of Maximum Sustainable Yield ....................................................... 15 1.4.7 Estimated, Current and Projected Production...................................................... 15 1.4.8 Chemical Pesticide Use................................................................................... 16 2.0 Guidelines/Standards Employed................................................................................. 17 3.0 THE CERTIFICATION ASSESSMENT PROCESS................................................. 17 3.1 Assessment Dates.....................................................................................................17 3.2 Assessment Team..................................................................................................... 18 3.3 Assessment Process ................................................................................................. 20 3.3.1 Itinerary........................................................................................................... 20 3.3.2 Stakeholder Consultation................................................................................ 27 3.4 Total Time Spent on Evaluation .............................................................................. 30 3.5 Process of Determining Conformance..................................................................... 30 4.0 Results of the Evaluation ............................................................................................ 31 Table 4.1 Notable strengths and weaknesses of the forest management enterprise relative to the P&C.............................................................................................................. 32 4.2 Corrective Action Requests and Recommendations................................................ 38 4.2.1 Major Corrective Action Requests.................................................................. 38 4.2.2 (Minor) Corrective Action Requests............................................................... 40 4.2.3 Recommendations........................................................................................... 44 5.0 simulated Certification Decision.................................................................................47 5.1 Certification Recommendation (Simulated)............................................................ 47 6.0 Surveillance Evaluations............................................................................................. 47 7.0 Summary of SCS Complaint Investigation Procedure................................................ 47 Section B Detailed Results of the simulated Full Evaluation................................................. 49 1.0 Detailed Evaluation of Conformance............................................................................. 49 1.1 Evaluation of Conformance with the Additional Considerations for National Forest Management........................................................................................................................ 92 1.2 Controversial Issues................................................................................................. 95 2.0 TRACKING, TRACING AND IDENTIFICATION OF FOREST PRODUCTS ..... 96 4 Appendix 1 List of Federal Statutes Related to Forest Service Activities ..................... 97 Appendix 2 List of Forest Service Personnel Participating in the Evaluation Process 103 Appendix 3 List of Stakeholders .................................................................................. 104 Appendix 4 MTHNF Preliminary Evaluation Report .................................................. 106 5 SECTION A- PUBLIC SUMMARY AND BACKGROUND INFORMATION 1.0 GENERAL INFORMATION 1.1 FSC Data Request Applicant entity USDA Forest Service – Mt. Hood National Forest Contact person