Reminder: Submit Your Comments on Revised FSC Trademark Use by October 1

Sidewalk Labs released its Master Innovation and Development Plan (MIDP) for Toronto’s eastern waterfront yesterday. Entitled “Toronto Tomorrow”, the plan is expected to create significant Canadian jobs, tax revenues and GDP contributions. Derek Nighbor, President and CEO of Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) issued the following statement today in response to the MIDP: “The Toronto Tomorrow proposal prominently features the use of wood from Canada’s sustainably managed forests as a cornerstone of its project – including a plan to build with mass timber, to use wood to build affordable and below market housing for Torontonians, and to invest $80 million in mass timber manufacturing. In Canada and around the world, wood is experiencing a resurgence as a building material of choice because it is environmentally friendly as well as beautiful, durable, and high performing. This project is a great way to address a number of community needs in Toronto, while providing a boost to our rural and northern forestry communities. We could not be more excited to see this visionary project taking root in Toronto for millions to see and experience.”

Greenpeace International has informed the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) that it will discontinue its international membership with FSC for the year 2018. In line with its overall decentralization approach, Greenpeace will allow national offices to determine if and how to best engage with FSC and forest management more broadly. In some countries – Canada, the United States and New Zealand for example – Greenpeace will remain members of FSC International.

Derik Frederiksen has been selected as the president of Forest Stewardship Council US, concluding an extensive national search process conducted by executive search firm Odgers Berndtson on behalf of the FSC US Board of Directors. An Alaska Native from the Tsm'syen Nation of Southeast Alaska and British Columbia, Derik brings to the role decades of business experience, a deep commitment to forest conservation and a lifelong passion for helping advance Indigenous culture to protect ancestral homelands. “As we got to know Derik, we were so impressed by the way he has tied together commitments to forests and people throughout his career,” said Sarah Billig, FSC US board co-chair. “Coupled with his business experience at Sealaska, Derik’s vision and demonstrated ability to successfully grow organizations is the right fit for a moment when FSC is presented with so much opportunity.” Derik has spent much of his career at Sealaska, the Native Corporation for Southeast Alaska. He founded Sealaska Environmental Services, growing the organization over 11 years to 110 employees with contracts valued at more than $1.3 billion. Most recently, Derik served as Sealaska’s vice president, leading corporate communications, shareholder services and education, and workforce development. During this time, Derik helped develop a 165,000-acre forest carbon bank that generated 9.3 million tons of carbon credits.