BRUNSWICK, Maine --Hancock Lumber Co. has become the first Maine company to receive Forest Stewardship Council certification for a lumber yard, officials said Wednesday.

At a ceremony at the company's lumber yard, Gov. John Baldacci congratulated the company on last month's certification from the Forest Stewardship Council. The certification guarantees that the wood comes from a certified well-managed forest.

"Consumers are demanding more products from certified wood," said Baldacci. "As I talk to paper mills, they are telling me that places like Nike and Time magazine will not buy their paper for advertising unless it is made from certified wood."

Kevin Hancock, president of Hancock Lumber, said that certified wood sells at about a 15 percent premium over wood that is not certified.