Jameson French: “Some said I was a communist”

Jameson French relays what it was like to be one of the early proponents of FSC among the US industry. Today, many of his earlier critics are certified themselves.

“As hardwood people, we grew up with sustainability”, explains Jameson French, when asked why he became engaged with FSC. Jameson French owns and runs Northland Forest Products, a midsized hardwood producer and distributor on the US East Coast. “My family has been in the hardwood business since the 1880s. ‘Growing trees for your grandchildren’ was an ingrained family value”.

Growing up in New England as the 4th generation in the hardwood lumber business Northland Forest Products, Jameson French became an ardent bird-watcher and hiker at an early age. Those interests created a high level of awareness of the need to protect the natural environment.

At 16, he was co-organiser of the first-ever Earth Day. A few years later, he was campaigning to stop raw sewage from flowing directly into rivers and to halt the use of DDT to fight Dutch Elm disease. “I was quite an activist in those days”, Mr. French recalls. “Environmental degradation was very severe in the 1970s”.

How did your engagement with FSC come about?

“In 1995, I was invited to join a group of industry and environmental leaders to discuss the idea of starting a US National Initiative. I guess it was because I was known both as a timber industry representative and as former chairman of The Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, the largest conservation group in the state”.

In late 1999, Mr. French was elected to the economic chamber of the FSC US Board. From 2001-2003, he served as the first chairman of the US Board from the economic sector.

“The first period was difficult. The e-NGOs tended to be less progressive, and during the first FSC General Assemblies there was a lot of conflict. The initial market development was slow and finances were severely constrained. Initially, the focus was on solid tropical wood, and before the paper industry got engaged and boosted the market, grants were the only source of income for the system”.

How did your forest industry colleagues react to your commitment?

“My peers and even my friends in the industry thought I was crazy. I was even publicly accused of being a communist! According to some, FSC was an international conspiracy to stop harvesting of wood. All of us in the industry who got involved at that time got very much criticised for embracing the environmentalists”.

Mr. French pauses. “It was tough then. But time has proven me right. Many who were very critical back then are now certified. The world has changed very much”.

Northland Forest Products is in itself an example of the benefits of long-time engagement with FSC. “Every year, we sell more FSC-certified products in the US and other markets. Most of our European buyers are public sector projects, while our US customers are a mixture of universities, NGO projects and private sector enterprises. The markets for certified hardwood products in Australia, New Zealand and Japan seem to be largely driven by government procurement policies”.

What do you see as the key challenges for FSC?

“Overall I remain very positive about the system . However, I am deeply concerned about the access to FSC certification for small and medium forest enterprises. The amount of paperwork required to get certified is a great obstacle. Look at the new FSC-US Forest Management standard for family forests – it’s 122 pages long! There is a need to go back and make it more simple."

There is a big movement in this country against government regulations and bureaucracy, which are seen as discriminating against the little guy. In the Eastern US hardwood forest over 70% of the land is owned by small, non-industrial landowners. There are over 8 million of these individuals, many of whom only harvest their land every 15 or 20 years. Unless we can find ways to increase smallholders access to certification , there is a risk that FSC develops into an elitist program for only the largest and wealthiest landowners”.

“Also, don’t abolish Controlled Wood! Companies like Northland Forest Products depend very much on an efficient Controlled Wood system for our FSC product range. Until a much larger volume of FSC products becomes available, we are not able to buy the full range of species, qualities and sizes that we need”.

“Finally, I would also urge FSC to work on keeping the brand credible. There is a need to be very careful about controlling trademark abuses and misleading statements. We have to keep the labeling strong”.