Our Forest Stewardship Policy
Potlatch's business philosophy is grounded in sustainably managing the resources we own, making sound decisions that provide for long-term economic stability, and in supporting the communities where we conduct business. Our forest stewardship policy and sustainable forestry program are founded on several key commitments:- Potlatch's commitment to the environment is focused on responsible forest stewardship, energy efficiency, waste minimization and utilization, pollution prevention, and protection of the health and safety of employees, customers, and the communities in which we operate.
- Renewable forest resources will be nurtured and protected to provide an optimum economic rate of return to the company while enhancing other resource values.
- Forests will be perpetually renewed.
- Forest stewardship will be practiced with a high degree of awareness of present and future impacts on the public.
- We will utilize efficiently all financial, physical, and natural resources.
- We will maintain high ethical standards and open, forthright relationships with all publics.
In order to meet these commitments, Potlatch will establish and maintain an environmental management system that provides the framework for planning, implementing, evaluating, and improving all our land management activities. The environmental management system, at a minimum will ensure that we:
- Conduct all our activities to fully comply with applicable federal, state, and local statutes and regulations.
- Cocus on and emphasize pollution prevention.
- Continuously improve our environmental performance through setting objectives and targets in key areas.
In addition, each of our operating units will achieve third-party certification under the Forest Stewardship Council as appropriate to the scope and scale of that operation.
Specific requirements of these systems are captured in statements of "operational commitments" that are part of the environmental management system; these include our commitments to:
- Systematically monitor, measure and report performance through regular internal and external audits.
- Publicly report certification results and environmental performance to ensure all stakeholders that we are, in fact, performing to a standard that they expect and have acknowledged.