I had more thoughts...
Seems like the program as laid out so far starts with a municipality. What about other start-points... i.e. a sawyer who is sourcing a log from somewhere other that a "ceritified" tree service contracted by a municipality? Or a hobbyist (like me) that may recover a storm-damaged tree, saw it themselves and use most (or all) of the lumber themselves?
This is going to ramble a bit, but hang with me... In the starts-with-municipality scenario, In order for the front of the process to be effective, there has to be some incentive to the municipality other than being environmentally conscious. They are going to select a tree service vendor, most likely on a low-bid basis. Maybe that's a "certified" outfit, maybe not...
The tree-service gets a value-add by not having to pay dumping fees...
The sawyer gets a value-add in free logs...
The woodworker/woodshop/fabricator might get some benefit other than warm-fuzzy if the sawyer elects to sell at reduced price since he/she paid nothing for the logs.
The consumer's value-add is that they are contributing to sustainability.
But what if... there is a "reverse benefit". The sawyer, having got the logs free, agrees to contribute x cents/bdft back. The outfit producing a product agrees to contribute x percent. The stipulation being that the reverse contributions go back to the municipality with the specific requirement that the funds be used for local sustainability projects (i.e. cannot be put into "general funds"). This gives the municipality the incentive to use the certified service to start with.
I know some folks will say "sounds like a tax to me", or maybe even a "kickback"... and maybe it is not even a feasible thing to do, IDK.
And in the cases where the process does not start with the municipality, maybe the "reverse benefit" goes to a state forestry sustainability project, or the Nature Conservancy or something like that.
It's kinda like a retailer saying "x% of all sales benefit x charity".
OK guys - fire away - what am I not thinking about... I probably sound like a raving, tree-hugging lunatic, but I'm really not :eusa_doh: