Provincial Forestry Program Receives National Award

The Canadian Institute of Forestry (CIF) today presented Saskatchewan Environment's Forest Service with its 2005 Canadian Forest Management Group Achievement Award at the group's national conference being held this week in Prince Albert.

The award was given to the provincial forestry program for achieving ISO 14001 certification for its Environmental Management System (EMS). This achievement is a first in Canada for a province-wide government program.

The CIF's membership includes forestry professionals from across Canada. The award recognizes groups or teams who have made significant, unique, and outstanding contributions to forest management in Canada.

"This award recognizes a great deal of hard work by many Saskatchewan Environment staff, and their spirit of innovation," Environment Minister David Forbes said. "I feel very proud that, once again, Saskatchewan is leading the country in our commitment to the sustainability of our forests."

The EMS provides a framework to manage the environmental impacts of activities associated with the province's forestry program. Transparency, accountability and continuous improvement are built into the system, with the overall goal of sound environmental practices.

Saskatchewan's forestry program was first certified in January 2004, following a rigorous independent audit by KPMG Performance Registrar Inc. of Vancouver. The program has successfully maintained its certification, confirmed by periodic repeat audits. ISO 14001 is the internationally recognized standard for certification of such systems.

Media Contact:
Al Willcocks
Environment
Prince Albert
T: 306-953-2486

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