Sustainable Industrial Forestry: Perceptions and Reality
WE MUST SHAPE THE FUTURE of sustainable industrial forestry and, more broadly, the role of forest management in meeting society’s needs. In presentations and on the ground, we’ve demonstrated that Weyerhaeuser forestry is science based. We have been committed to sustainable forest management for a long time, and our able foresters continue to implement technology to improve productivity and minimize environmental impact. We’re getting more fiber per acre than ever and this allows society the choice to conserve more land.
While we’re committed to sound science and results-based application of productivity technology, we also understand the importance of forest resources other than trees. In this area, we acknowledge that regulatory requirements and environmental pressure have been catalysts for progress. Our environmental research staff comprises aquatic biologists who increase our understanding of fish and forest interaction, geologists who help design harvest units and roads to minimize slides and erosion, hydrologists who are concerned with water quality and quantity from our lands, and scientists who specialize in wildlife and biodiversity, helping us protect areas of special value in the forest.
In spite of these accomplishments, the forest products industry, and science-based forestry, is under assault. The reality of what we do to effectively utilize and sustain the resource is not the perception of the average citizen. We need to better convey to the public what we’ve achieved in forest management.
Customers: The ultimate target
Some environmental groups use distortions and half-truths to demonize forestry and manufacturing practices. These groups do not appear to care about the value and advantages our products bring society, the advances we have made in forest management, or about the science that indicates that we can balance economic and other forest values sustainably. Rather, they use misinformation to prey on emotion. And they are smart enough to try to hit us where it hurts by targeting customers.
Industry experts conservatively estimate that such market campaigns could cost our industry billions of dollars per year. Consider the Rainforest Action Network’s (RAM’s) campaign against Weyerhaeuser. They started this campaign in 2003 and have gradually intensified it. They surveyed retail stores in Seattle to see who sells our products and demanded that a grocery chain that is a major customer of Weyerhaeuser bags stop purchasing them. When this customer refused, RAN planned an “International Day of Action” and called for protests at its stores.
Our response has been to meet face-to-face with their representatives to try to understand their issues and to help them better understand our practices. Even though we have clearly communicated our position, their position has not softened. We are already doing many of the things that RAN wants and there is virtually no gap between our practices and those of organizations that RAN has publicly praised. We support SFI, which is governed by an independent board and employs third-party audits of certified lands. Yet we continue to be challenged, in spite of the facts, presumably because of our size and leadership position on forestry issues.
Mo more “brown” vs. “green”
If environmental activists succeed in setting the agenda, they will minimize the respect we have earned and threaten the industry’s viability. This will hasten off-shore forest development and lost opportunity in North America.
What will we do? Of course, we will go forward. We will continue to listen, learn, and continually improve. We are doing our best to provide the facts to our customers and the public, but we cannot do it alone. It is necessary for all of us to speak out.
For example, we must support foresters to become articulate advocates, or we’re going to lose the debate. Some forestry programs have reacted to environmental and funding pressures by minimizing emphasis on “forestry” and focusing primarily on environmental management. We must to get away from the brown versus green attitudes. There is nothing inherently wrong with intensive forestry for fiber production. Indeed, it is compatible with conservation.
We all need to do public outreach and education and talk about our expanded capabilities in balancing fiber production and good stewardship. Doing so will help the industry have a significant influence on social attitudes and regulatory policies.
It is in all of our interests to allocate more time to public outreach to ensure that our schools have healthy enrollments of future foresters and scientists and that our industry remains viable and valued for its contribution to the quality of life.
RICHARD HANSON is COO of Weyerhaeuser. This column was excerpted from Mr. Hanson’s remarks at the AF&PA 2004 Deans’ Tour in Olympia, Wash.
Copyright Paperloop, Inc. Apr 2005