Public Notice for Forest Management Corrective Action Verification Audit (CVA) Resolute FP Canada Inc. for the Black Spruce Dog River Matawin Forests (RA-‐FM/COC-‐005587) May 22, 2015 Introduction The Rainforest Alliance is conducting forest management Corrective Action Verification Audit (CVA) of Resolute FP Canada Inc. located in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. The evaluation will be implemented from June 24-‐25, 2015. Scope of the Evaluation The forest management evaluation will assess Major NCR 01/13 for Black Spruce Dog River Matawin Forests managed by Resolute FP Canada Inc. using the FSC National Boreal Standard (2004). The standard is available on the FSC Canada website at: https://ca.fsc.org/regional-‐fm-‐
standards.201.htm Rainforest Alliance is accredited by the Forest Stewardship Council®1 (FSC®) and this evaluation process follows procedures which have been approved by the FSC. CVA Team Composition The CVA team will be led by Gabriel Bolton, Rainforest Alliance Forest Management Specialist. The team members will be: Will Martin (Environmental Specialist) and Leif Olson (Technical Expert). Evaluation Steps and Schedule Following is a short description of the evaluation process and a tentative agenda: • On-‐site Evaluation: The Rainforest Alliance team will assemble in Thunder Bay on June 24-‐25, 2015. 1 Rainforest Alliance is an FSC accredited certifier FSC® A000520 •
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Stakeholder consultation: Throughout the evaluation, the team will contact stakeholders regarding Resolute’s conformance to the applicable criteria. This may include private interviews and discussions. Final evaluation briefing: Prior to departure on June 25, the team will meet with Resolute managers and other parties to finalize their data collection and present preliminary findings. Draft report production: The CVA team will produce a confidential draft report that will be circulated for comment to Resolute. Evaluation Conclusion: Rainforest Alliance will reach an evaluation conclusion with respect to the Major non-‐conformance. Barring unforeseen obstacles, this should occur by early August, 2015. Your Input Sought As a part of the forest certification evaluation process, we invite stakeholders to offer comment and feedback on Resolute’s forest management in relation to conformance with the requirements of the forest management standard referenced above. We welcome input, either public or confidential, in whatever form is easiest and most secure for you. Your input will be valuable at any stage of the evaluation process, but we would prefer to receive your comments prior to or during the on-‐site evaluation so that we can take them into consideration in reaching a certification decision. Your options for communicating your observations to us are as follows. 1. Meet with a Rainforest Alliance team member during the on-‐site portion of the evaluation. 2. Call and give comments to Gabriel Bolton or Will Martin (Rainforest Alliance auditors). 3. Submit written comments by mail or email to the audit team. Unless you request otherwise, these comments will be kept confidential and are solely for the purposes of evaluating Resolute FP Canada Inc. The source of any information provided will be kept confidential available to only the FSC and Rainforest Alliance staff. Stakeholders who may wish to dispute any aspect of the forest certification process or decision can access Rainforest Alliance’s Complaints, Appeals and Dispute resolution procedures at http://www.rainforest-‐alliance.org/forestry/certification/transparency/dispute-‐resolution Contacting Rainforest Alliance • Gabriel Bolton: [email protected] or (802) 923-‐3751 • Will Martin: [email protected] or (902) 521-‐2383
• Website: www.rainforest-‐alliance.org. • Mail address: Rainforest Alliance Canada Regional Office: P.O. Box 1771, Chelsea, QC J9B 1A1