Certification of forest management practices and manufactured wood products
can potentially involve many stakeholders. One group that has the potentia
l to influence certification in the United States is public forest-related
agency managers. In this study, certification was researched from the persp
ectives of forest managers in the two largest federal public land managemen
t agencies (USDA Forest Service and U.S. Bureau of Land Management) and sta
te foresters. Respondents believed there is more of a need for certificatio
n of tropical forests than for U.S. forests. In addition, they believed tha
t state and federal timberlands are in the least need of certification rela
tive to privately held timberland. Although respondents understand the conc
ept of certification, they have a low degree of trust in environmental clai
ms made by wood products manufacturers. Finally respondents generally do no
t believe that consumers will pay a premium for certified wood products nor
that the public will support certification as a mechanism to ensure forest
sustainability.