Good morning. It’s a pleasure to be back here in
Louisiana — a state I know very well for both personal and professional
reasons.
On a personal level, I lived in Natchitoches
for four years early in my career at Willamette Industries. During that
time, I made many friends, including Buck Vandersteen, your LFA director.
Professionally, Louisiana has become an increasingly important
part of my life at Weyerhaeuser. Through the acquisitions of Trus Joist
and Willamette, Louisiana has become one of our most significant operating
states:
- We operate five sawmills here which
produce about 20 percent of our Southern lumber.
- We
also operate an oriented strand board mill, plywood and veneer facilities,
a composite panels plant and two Trus Joist engineered lumber plants.
- On the paper side, our second-largest containerboard operation
is located here in Louisiana. We also operate a packaging plant in the state.
- Finally, and most importantly to this audience, we own and manage
more than one million acres of Louisiana timberland. That makes Louisiana
our largest timberlands operation in the South.
We’re
obviously committed to Louisiana.
And we’re bullish on
our industry. We wouldn’t have bought Willamette for 8.1 billion dollars
if we didn’t think this industry had a future.
When you
think of it, what other industry plays such an important role to human well-being?
The forest products industry uses a remarkable, renewable and reusable resource
to create products for shelter, communication, and commerce.
And
the people in this room are responsible for growing this incredible resource
— wood. On behalf of everyone who uses anything made from wood, thank you
for sustainably growing the trees to help us meet the needs of people around
the world.
Which brings me to the topic of today’s talk:
the role sustainable forestry plays in the future of our industry.
As a CEO, I’m often asked what keeps me awake at night. I’m not
a pessimist by nature, but I am a realist and I could list a number of industry
challenges that concern me. Thankfully for you, I don’t have the time to
do that today.
I’m not going to say that there aren’t
any concerns in forestry, but this is one area of our industry that is pretty
well positioned to meet the challenges of global competition.
The reason? Look around the room. You’re the reason. Foresters
have led the way in creating millions of acres of healthy and productive
forests … an entire industry that employs millions of people and supplies
thousands of products fundamental to civilized life.
Here
in the South, you’re producing more timber than ever while maintaining a
stable forest land base. The South, in total, produces 58 percent of U.S.
wood production and almost 16 percent of the world’s wood production.
And you’re doing it in a way that ensures that there will be wood
available for future generations. It’s estimated that hardwood inventories
in the South will increase through 2025 and remain above today’s levels
through 2040. Total acres planted in pine will increase to 50 million acres
by 2040 when pine will comprise 25 percent of Southern forests. That’s a
sizable increase from 15 percent today.
More importantly,
this increase has come from the growth in commercial forestry … a key element
in meeting increasing demands for wood. Some experts have estimated that
it would require less than 5 percent of the world’s forests to meet present
wood demand using high-yield, managed forests.
On the
other hand, 20-40 percent would be required via unmanaged, naturally regenerating
forests.
Make no mistake – Louisiana, the South, the
United States, North America and the world need commercial forestry. It’s
also true that the world should be singing the praises of sustainable commercial
forestry.
Former Greenpeace founder Dr. Patrick Moore
makes this case when he notes, “You would think that … since forestry is
the most sustainable of all the primary industries … and that wood is without
a doubt the most renewable material used to build and maintain our civilization
… that this would give wood a lot of green eco-points in the environmental
movements ledger.”
So, everyone considers us heroes,
right? Commercial forestry is being embraced, right?
You
and I both know that is not the case, nor are we being hailed as heroes.
We’re accused of deforestation and causing species to become extinct. We’re
blamed for global warming, floods and landslides. We’re painted as villains
for supposedly creating monoculture forests. People are encouraged to use
plastic to “save a tree.”
What’s the problem here? Why
aren’t we getting the credit we deserve? Why don’t people recognize the
role sustainable forests play?
Once again, I’ll ask you
to look around the room. As Pogo said, “We have met the enemy and he is
us.”
Those of us in this room … and I’ll include myself
… simply haven’t done a good job of telling our story. This should be evident
from the fact that 70 percent of the North American public believes we’re
using more wood than we’re replacing, and more than half believe we’ll run
out of wood in our lifetime.
According to the Wood Promotion
Network’s research, even builders feel some guilt about using wood, more
so even than consumers. However, the good news is that WPN’s research indicates
that public concerns about the use of forests to produce timber appear to
be easing. In fact, 65 percent of involved citizens agree with the statement
that “regeneration efforts are improving.”
Even so, a
major duty all of us must assume is to keep telling the public two things:
“we’re not running out of trees” and “wood is the superior environmental
choice.”
We also have to acknowledge that customers are
requesting … no, make that requiring … certification of forests and forest
products.
As a company that works closely with the “large
box” chains, Weyerhaeuser is feeling the increased pressure to prove to
customers that our products come from sustainable forests. And everyone
in this room is going to feel that pressure too … either today or tomorrow.
Earlier I mentioned that we own and manage more than one million
acres of productive timberland. That’s a lot of trees, but here in the South,
about 75 percent of the fiber we use to source our mills comes from people
like you. That means we’re going to come back to you and ask you to prove
that you’re using sustainable practices.
As one might
expect in a pluralistic world, there’s debate over whose standards should
prevail.
As the former chair of the American Forest
& Paper Association, quite naturally I’m a supporter of AF&PA’s
Sustainable Forestry Initiative™ – or SFI. I also support ISO 14001 which
certifies environmental management systems.
As Weyerhaeuser
announced nationwide in mid-February, our company is now certified to the
SFI standard on all of the seven plus million acres of our timberland in
the United States.
The certification by the Quality
Management Institute includes all of our million-plus acres in Louisiana
and offers independent verification that our forests are being managed to
a high standard.
Weyerhaeuser’s interest is to make
sure that the environment is protected … that American forest products can
compete … and that American forest owners can control their destiny.
If we’re prohibited from doing so, not only the forest products
industry, but our nation’s forests, will suffer. We must lobby our governmental
representatives for a more stable regulatory environment in which to make
our long-term investment in trees. And we must educate our neighbors and
the public in general about the benefits of responsible, sustainable forestry.
Another thing we can all do is promote wood products
over competing products from other industries. One group that is doing just
that is the Wood Promotion Network, whose research I referenced earlier.
WPN is doing a great job of making the case for wood
products, and more information on WPN is available on the tables at the
back of the room. Partly from WPN’s efforts and partly from the dramatic
fall in wood products prices — incursions into wood products markets by
concrete and steel have been slowing.
WPN research also
indicates that wood is better positioned than it was three years ago.
For example, since Americans and Canadians launched the Wood Promotion
Network, we’ve seen a 13 percent increase in the number of homebuilders
who agree that “wood is an all-around better building material than steel
or concrete.” Among that important customer base, we’ve also seen an increase
of 15 percent in the number who agree that “wood seems more popular these
days.” Nonetheless, substitution remains a significant threat.
The best way all of us can help slow substitution is simply this:
Let’s stand united as foresters and forest products manufacturers in promoting
the benefits of managed forests and wood as a superior environmental choice.
In my opinion, the heart of forestry is sustainability — and practicing
sustainable forestry is the number one thing you can do to help American
forestry and the U.S. forest products industry to survive and prosper. And
please do it safely.
My hope is that one day managed
forests will be seen as a solution and not as a problem. I want forest products
to be universally viewed as the most environmentally friendly products people
can buy and use. I look forward to the day when everyone involved with modern
forestry will be accorded the respect and praise they deserve.
But to make that happen, I have one more desire. I want all of
us in this room to stand together to make that happen.
I
don’t believe that’s a pipe dream. You have demonstrated the ability to
create a sustainable industry. I’ve seen what you can do.
Now
I’m asking you to join me in making this vision come true. With your help,
I know that is possible.
Thank you, and now I’ll take
any questions you might have.
