Experimental Forest certified as Sustainable

The Clemson University Experimental Forest will be able to sell its harvested timber in a wider range of green construction markets after its forest management practices were certified to be sustainable by a third-party group of experts. The forest’s 17,500 acres are among 103,000 acres of South Carolina timberland to be certified sustainable through a years-long process overseen by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative. The Experimental Forest has been under Clemson’s management since 1939 and is believed to be the largest research and teaching forest contiguous with the main campus of a public university in the U.S. The forest’s day-to-day operations, personnel, equipment, supplies, roads and public recreation facilities are supported solely by the revenue it generates. Certification means that the management practices being carried out by forest managers meet a rigorous set of 14 independently audited principles that include measures to protect water quality, biodiversity, wildlife habitat and at-risk species. South Carolina’s forest industry ranks first in employment among the state’s manufacturing sector and has a more than $17 billion annual economic impact on the state, according to the most recent agribusiness industry study.