The Outlook
February 2007

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W e l c o m e

This month our commentary explores the role consumers do and don't play in new product development and responds to the common question: "Nobody is asking for green, so why should I do it?"

Our reports review the topics of Ecological Classification Systems (ECS) and Mutual Recognition and how each relates to forest certification and what benefits might result.

Also, please note that we are offering tours at our eco-affordable housing project in Aitkin, Minnesota. The sale of the home is pending, so this will be the last chance to see it before the new family arrives!

- Jeff

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I n  T h i s  I s s u e:

Dovetail Commentary:

What Do Consumer Demands Have to Do With the Market for "Green?"

Dovetail Reports:

Forest Certification & Ecological Classification Systems: The Potential for Shared Objectives and Benefits

Forest Certification & Mutual Recognition: What is Involved and What Does it Imply?

Dovetail News:

Verso Paper Founding Sponsor of Family Forests Alliance
A two-story demonstration of local products (StarTribune 2/9/07)

What Do Consumer Demands Have to Do With the Market for "Green?"

Dr. Jeff Howe
February 2007

For well over 20 years the wood products industry has been asking the question: “Do customers really care about green?,” And, more recently, making the statement: “No one is asking for certified wood, so why should I offer it?” Consistently, underlying the industry reticence to embrace green practices is the primary excuse that “customers aren't requesting it, so why should I offer something they so obviously don't want (otherwise they'd ask – right?).” Perhaps, however, the truth is that customers rarely request new products and waiting for them to do so puts your company out of the running.

Let's face it, a few years ago did anyone see teenagers lined up at the local electronics store begging for a small white plastic thingy that can record and play 10,000 songs, costs $300, and could only download well through one website?

To read the full commentary, click here.


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D o v e t a i l   R e p o r t s
All reports are available online.

Forest Certification and Ecological Classification Systems

The Potential for Shared Objectives and Benefits

Kathryn Fernholz

An area of notable evolution within forestry over the past several decades has been the expansion of the types of information foresters utilize in making management decisions. Traditionally, foresters have looked at growth and yield data and measures such as site index to define site potential and management alternatives. In recent years, another tool has been increasingly utilized to aid in identifying management alternatives and to help in decision-making.   This tool is the Ecological Classification System.  

The adoption of Ecological Classification Systems, also called ECS, has been driven, in part, by foresters' professional development interests and a need to address a broader range of ecological considerations in decision-making.   ECS had also gained increased importance in recent years because of the need to meet forest management certification standards.

This report provides an overview of Ecological Classification Systems, how they are developed and used, and how they fit within the expectations and requirements of forest certification programs.   Specific examples of systems developed and used in the Upper Midwest are included.

To download the report, click here.

Forest Certification and Mutual Recognition

What is Involved and What Does it Imply?

Matthew Wenban-Smith

Recent years have seen many calls for 'mutual recognition' between the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and programs endorsed by the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), or other forest certification programs.

But what is 'mutual recognition'?   Would it deliver the benefits its proponents suppose? And does FSC, in fact, object to the concept?

To download the report, click here.

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D o v e t a i l   N e w s

Verso Paper Founding Sponsor of Family Forests Alliance

“Private forests account for nearly 60% of America's forestland,” says Craig Liska, Vice President of Sustainability at Verso Paper. “As a company that depends upon the health of these forests, we are committed to supporting efforts that encourage certification and responsible forestry on America's family forests.”

To show their commitment, Verso Paper has recently become a founding sponsor for the FSC Family Forests Alliance. The Alliance is a new national collaboration to support responsible forestry on private lands.

To read the story, click here.

A two-story demonstration of local products
by Aimee Blanchette, Star Tribune
February 9, 2007

Aitkin County made headlines in 1997, when it became the first county in the nation to have more than 550,000 acres of forest land certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), an organization that advocates responsible forest management.

Now, the county is taking its sustainable forestry practices a step further. A 1,300-square-foot wooden house that's made almost entirely of locally harvested, sustainably grown wood was built recently to demonstrate green building principles and the use of local, certified products.

To read the story:
http://www.startribune.com/417/story/989394.html

“The Outlook” is the monthly e-newsletter of Dovetail Partners Inc, a 501c3 non profit corporation.

Dovetail Partners is a highly skilled team that collaborates to develop unique concepts, systems, programs and models to foster sustainable forestry and catalyze responsible trade and consumption.