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Verso Paper Corp. Poplar Woodlands Achieve SFI Certification
Monday 08. June 2009 - Verso Paper Corp. (NYSE:VRS) today announced that its poplar woodlands located in west-central Minnesota were independently audited by NSF International Strategic Registrations in early April and are now certified to the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) Standard (NSF-SFIS- C0027231). The scope of the audit included forest management practices on approximately 30,000 acres of land that are owned or leased and managed by Verso, as well as wood fiber procurement from open-market producers in Minnesota who supply Versos Sartell (Minn.) Mill.
“Having our poplar woodlands certified to the SFI standard is yet another step in fulfilling Versos commitment to increase the use of certified fiber – which was at 65 percent in 2008 – and to increase the amount of certified fiber available in the marketplace,” said Verso Vice President of Sustainability Craig Liska. “Because of our industrys intimate connection with the worlds forests, we believe Verso has a responsibility to promote sustainable forestry and forest certification whenever and wherever we can. Achieving SFI certification of our woodlands demonstrates that Verso is leading not in words only, but also by example,” he said.
The SFI audit indicated that forestry practices and operations on Verso lands met all SFI requirements and exceeded requirements in two areas. In the area of research, testing, evaluation and deployment of improved planting stock, the auditors concluded that Versos support for poplar tree improvement is “exceptional.” The auditors also concluded that Verso exceeds requirements for contractor education and training through its participation in the Minnesota Logger Education Program and the Minnesota Master Logger Program.
“I am very pleased with the outcome of the independent certification audit,” said Poplar Woodlands Manager Mike Young. “We met 103 different objective measures without a single non-conformance. This is a testimony to the quality of Versos forest land management and procurement programs supporting the Sartell Mill.”