The 2012 Defense Authorization Act could have a surprising negative impact on Warren County’s largest industry — timber.

Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, a Republican, recently met with a group of representatives from the lumber industry, ranging from tree farmers to furniture-makers, to discuss one of the major challenges facing the timber industry in the state.

The meeting at the Weyerhaeuser facility in Columbus also served as an opportunity for the Mississippi Forestry Association to commend Wicker for his work to support Mississippi timber.

At issue was the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, a rating system that assesses the environmental friendliness of construction projects, both commercial and residential.

The discussion centered on the Department of Defense’s policy regarding green building rating systems. The Pentagon has used the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED system for the past five years.

“It was a pretty diverse group, in terms of forest landowners, tree farmers and corporate wood products,” said Nate Irby, MFA communications director. “Senator Wicker has been a strong champion for increased wood use in green buildings the past few years. The purpose was to talk about some technical things, but primarily for Senator Wicker to know that he has strong and diversified support.”

Wicker said in a press release that the current process for evaluating environmental friendliness was unfair to domestic wood producers.

“Transparent and fair rating systems need to be used as building policies are updated,” Wicker said. “The DOD should not rely on standards that add costs and blatantly disregard American wood products.”

Timber is the largest industry in Warren County, accounting for more acreage than all crops and livestock combined. Nearly 70 percent of the county’s 375,430 acres are comprised of planted timber.

Irby said the eventual goal of the MFA and Wicker would be to find a green rating service that is more friendly to domestic lumber.

“We’re going to continue to solicit the U.S. Green Building Council,” Irby said. “Those are the folks that administer LEED.”

Irby, a Vicksburg resident, explained how LEED utilizes just one forest certification system which eliminates approximately 87 percent of all certified lumber in the state from use in future DOD buildings.

“Basically, there’s several entities that are third-party in nature that are what we call ‘forest certification systems,’” Irby said. “LEED only recognizes one of those systems. The other two are recognized in other green rating systems.”

Another problem with LEED, according to Irby and Wicker, is that the program emphasizes the use of steel and concrete, which are significantly less environmentally friendly than the production of wood products.

“Timber is green,” Irby said. “That’s because of a number of reasons, but the most profound is that it’s a naturally renewable resource. Our harvest to replant ratio is about six to one, so for every tree harvested, at least six more are planted. That’s the standard protocol.

Though he would not say what the particular effects would be, Irby said that the removal and replacement of LEED as the DOD’s valuation system would be good for Warren County.

“It would certainly be a positive thing for Warren County,” Irby said. “It’s rich in timber and certainly an industry that has waded through hard times, but there’s hope on the horizon for timber.”