AUGUSTA – Gov. John Baldacci wants more than half the state’s forestland certified as well-managed by 2007.

His goal, announced to a noisy, industry-filled crowd Wednesday: 10 million acres by 2007. Baldacci also said he would sign an executive order giving preference to wood cut on certified land and paper milled from its trees for state purchases.

MeadWestvaco Vice President Gary Curtis said his Rumford mill would be the first in the state to give buying preference to pulp taken from certified land.

During the State House ceremony, certification was lauded as having the potential to open new markets, secure pulp supply into the future and keep the industry viable.

David Refkin, who as president of the AOL Time Warner paper purchasing subsidiary described as the largest paper buyer in the world, said Time Inc. has been getting paper from Maine for its magazines since the 1930s.

Today, his readers want to know fiber in the magazines they read comes from healthy forests, he said. “This can only help the state sell more products.”

European producers have already gotten into the certified paper market, he added.

Some 6.4 million acres here are already certified by three different systems, at least one of which, environmentalists argue, isn’t rigorous enough. The objective of certifying forest land is to promote sustainable management.

Another 791,000 were pledged to be certified in the near future by three different land owners on Wednesday.

The process is involved and can be costly. Alec Giffen, the new Maine state forester, said he looked into getting his own 12-acre woodlot certified and got a quote of $650.

Initially, Giffen said, there was hope that selling paper and wood from certified land would fetch a premium at market, but “my understanding is, by and large that has not materialized.”

The state currently does not track the amount of trees harvested from certified land or products derived from it. The Legislature recently asked for such information, said Donald Mansiuf, director of forest policy and management. An annual report with some of that data will be out in December.

During his announcement, Baldacci named an advisory committee to look at ways to increase the amount of certified land in Maine and enhance markets for it.

“It makes sense for the environment, it makes sense for the economy … It’s not a competition between either one,” he said.

Organizers said this is the first state-led initiative of its sort in the country. Maine already has more of its acreage certified than any other state.