While the Lacey Act is a significant step forward in preventing the illegal harvesting of trees, it does nothing to recognize those companies that work to sustain our forests. To address this issue, the National Wood Flooring Association ( NWFA) has developed the Responsible Procurement Program (RPP) to promote and recognize environmentally and socially responsible forest management in the regions that supply timber.

Ed Korczak, NWFA’s executive director, noted even though green programs such as the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) are growing stronger every day, it has remained difficult for such programs to acknowledge hardwood as sustainably harvested, making its contribution to these systems difficult at best. “We had to prove that our U.S. forests were renewably managed, meaning we plant more than we harvest each year,” he said, “and then find a way to audit and verify mills that produce flooring that has been procured from one of these sites.”

RPP does just this, he said. After surveying the 33 states that provide hardwood to the industry, it was found that 83% of hardwood is still coming from uncertified, privately owned land. As a result, NWFA’s RPP works to audit and validate manufacturers that utilize hardwood from renewably managed forests through third- party verification offering a three-tier system of certification and labeling.

Tier one requires mills to participate in NWFA’s Verified Renewing Forests program— meaning members purchase a certain percentage of wood from one or more of the renewably managed forests—and in return are able to utilize the NWFA Verified Sourced from U.S. Renewing Forests label on hardwood products.

Tier two, which members are asked to attain within three years, takes it a step further, requiring Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) chain-of-custody certification and a commitment to building trade in FSC-certified wood products. Tier two also requires participants to meet FSC Controlled Wood standards for all non-FSC certified supply within two years.

The highest level, tier three, recognizes companies whose trade in FSC-certified products exceeds 50% of overall sales and whose non-FSC sales meet FSC Controlled Wood standards.