The American Hardwood Export Council (Sterling, Va.) commissioned the nonprofit environmental organization Dovetail Partners (Minneapolis) to complete independent jurisdictional risk assessments covering hardwood production in 37 states identified as significant producers of hardwoods. These assessments were prepared in conformance with the American Hardwood Assured (AHA) “Framework for Jurisdictional Risk Assessment of Legal Compliance of Hardwood Production in the USA.”
The overall finding of the 37 jurisdictional risk assessments (JRAs) is that there is a negligible risk for all criteria and indicators across all states assessed. This result “reflects the strength of forest governance in the U.S., which is supported by public policies, comprehensive legal and regulatory frameworks, effective enforcement and monitoring systems, public reporting, an accessible legal system, and an active and engaged civil society,” according to Dovetail Partners. “Together, these elements ensure a robust system of oversight for hardwood production, providing evidence that U.S. hardwood is legally sourced and responsibly managed.”
The JRAs examined the risk of illegality associated with hardwood production at the state level and are intended to support due diligence under emerging regulations, including the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). Each assessment evaluated the strength and effectiveness of forest governance systems—including laws, enforcement, monitoring, reporting and legal recourse—to determine the level of compliance established across indicators in the AHA framework.
Find a summary of the findings and a list of states involved here and a state-by-state breakdown of the findings here.
