Sustainable Forestry Initiative Board President Ousted from Oregon State Forestry Position

Oregon state forester Marvin Brown was forced to resign this week amidst rising concerns about his environmental leadership, including decisions to expand logging in state forests, and his support for increased clearcutting, an environmentally destructive method of logging.



Brown serves as board president of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) certification label, and his high-profile ouster due to environmental concerns provides another embarrassing episode in SFI’s controversial history. Often accused of "greenwash" or deceptively marketing harmful environmental practices as 'green', SFI has struggled to counter accusations that it primarily serves the profit-driven interests of the logging industry.



Today ForestEthics Executive Director Todd Paglia released the following statement on the matter:



“This really says it all: the man appointed to lead the Sustainable Forestry Initiative's board of directors has been forced to resign from a state forestry position for his backwards views on forests and the environment. Though it may be tempting to call Brown’s association with an organization calling itself “Sustainable” a terrible irony, there’s actually nothing ironic about it: SFI was founded by the timber industry explicitly to greenwash that industry’s basest practices, including massive clearcuts, degraded watersheds, and no regard for threatened wildlife or concerned communities. Sadly, we have full confidence in Mr. Brown’s qualifications on those matters. But we are thankful that the state of Oregon is no longer tolerating Mr. Brown’s regressive views and policies that have cost Oregon’s forests so dearly.”