Glens Falls, NY, November 14, 2008  -- With a steadfast, feet-in-the-forest commitment to environmental protection, Finch Paper, a fully-integrated manufacturer of conventional and digital printing papers, announces that it has received the Chain-of-Custody (CoC) certification to the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI Inc.).

"Generations of Finch Paper's foresters have personally cared for over 180,000 acres of Adirondack forestland," says Roger Dziengeleski, executive vice president and chief operating officer. "We fully support the efforts of SFI to not only provide comprehensive third-party certification, but also extensive outreach and training for loggers, foresters and family landowners."

With over 150 million acres certified across North America, the SFI forestry certification program is one of the largest in the world, with a standard based on principles and measures that promote responsible environmental behavior and sound forest management including measures to protect water quality, biodiversity, wildlife habitat, species at risk, and forests of exceptional conservation value. Chain-of-custody certification means a company has a tracking system in place that identifies the amount of certified, uncertified, and recycled content in the forest products it buys, uses or sells.

Companies interested in demonstrating that their printed products are made from responsibly managed forests can choose to print on Finch Papers and use the SFI label. "Our customers appreciate knowing that we have managed the same lands on a sustainable basis for almost 100 years," said Mike Bean, national sales manager. "They also admire the fact that The Nature Conservancy, which purchased 161,000 acres from Finch in 2007, chose our foresters to continue to manage the lands. Using the SFI label is one way our customers can show their commitment within the supply chain."

Finch Paper's SFI certification audit was conducted by the highly-respected PricewaterhouseCoopers. Finch Paper has earned both the SFI Forest Management certification and the Chain-of-Custody certification (PwC-SFICOC-293).