2nd Comment Period FINAL NR

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Allison Welde, Manager, January 30, 2009 Conservation Partnerships and Communications 703 875-9500 ext 24 SFI INC. INVITES COMMENTS ON DRAFT SFI 2010-2014 STANDARD ®ARLINGTON, VA – The independent Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) Inc. is inviting comments ®until March 2 on the draft SFI 2010-2014 Standard, which is posted at www.sfiprogram.org. As part of its public review, the non-profit forest certification program will host seven workshops across North America: o February 18 in Sacramento, California o February 19 in Vancouver, British Columbia o March 3 in Minneapolis, Minnesota o March 26 in Charleston, South Carolina o April 2 in Little Rock, Arkansas o April 7 in Portland, Maine o April 16 in Montreal, Quebec SFI third-party certification supports responsible forestry practices across North America through a standard based on principles that promote sustainable forest management, including measures to protect water quality, biodiversity, wildlife habitat, species at risk, and forests with exceptional conservation value. To be certified, forest operations must be audited against the current SFI Standard, which is enhanced through an open public process every five years. This is the third full review – it began in June 2008 and will lead to the SFI 2010-2014 Standard, which takes effect on Jan. 1, 2010. “The changes proposed in the draft SFI 2010-2014 Standard reflect views we received during an ...