EMERYVILLE, CA – Maine’s Baxter State Park has been recertified by Scientific Certification Systems (SCS) under the Forest Stewardship Council’s (FSC) standards for responsibly managed forests.

SCS, an FSC-accredited certifier, assessed the park’s 29,680-acre Scientific Forest Management Area (SFMA), which is designated as a demonstration area for exemplary forest management. The ecological, economic and social management of the SFMA forest were examined during the audit process. The assessment involved a wide stakeholder engagement process and scrutiny of forest management practices.

When the SFMA was established in 1955, former Maine Governor and park donor Percival Baxter envisioned "a showplace for those interested in forestry, a place where a continuing timber crop can be cultivated, harvested, and sold."

“The Baxter SFMA is a great example of using scientific forestry principles to develop a highly productive forest that maintains ecological health,” said Dr. Robert J. Hrubes, senior vice president of SCS.

The park, located in Piscataquis County, first earned FSC certification in 2001. The FSC is a non-profit organization devoted to encouraging responsible management of the world's forests. The FSC sets high standards that ensure forestry is practiced in an environmentally responsible, socially beneficial, and economically viable way. 

Source: Scientific Certification Systems