Good morning. It’s a distinct pleasure
to address an audience of American foresters. In my opinion, you’re
among the best in the world.
It’s also a pleasure to
be here in the great state of North Carolina where Weyerhaeuser Company
manages three quarters of a million acres of forestland and operates more
than a dozen manufacturing facilities.
It was my privilege
just two years ago to sign an agreement with the state of North Carolina
and several conservation groups to preserve more than 7,800 acres of significant
natural areas on Weyerhaeuser land.
Five years
before that, Weyerhaeuser and the Environmental Defense Fund signed a groundbreaking
agreement guiding the management and protection of 2,800 acres of the East
Dismal Swamp. Last year, we donated a conservation easement on
those acres – some of the most biologically diverse land on the Southeast
Coastal Plain – to the Nature Conservancy and The North Carolina Coastal
Land Trust.
Why do I mention these agreements?
Because – as you’ll learn from my remarks – just as I believe strongly that
some percentage of the world’s forests should be allocated to the production
of timber – so I also believe that some portion of the world’s forests should
be preserved in their natural state.
And,
as you’ll also hear, I believe the survival of many of our natural forests
is dependent upon the dedicated and effective use of modern forest management
techniques.
My comments today will revolve around four
topics:
- What I consider the appropriate role
of managed forests in our world today.
- Why some people
have what I consider an unwarranted fear of managed forests.
- The interdependent relationship between the forest products industry
and the forestry profession, and,
- What you can do to
help maintain both healthy forests and a healthy forestry profession.
I’ll begin here at home in the United States.
Perhaps never before has the concept of managed forests been debated so
heatedly as now … after what in the West could be called our “summer of
fire.”
Day after day, night after night, we watched walls
of flame explode across our television screens and engulf huge tracts of
forestland. Millions of acres were destroyed … thousands of people
were displaced … hundreds of homes are now smoking ruins.
And, of course, millions of pounds of carbon dioxide and particulate
matter were released into the atmosphere.
There are
those who argue that forest fires are a normal, even welcome, event in the
course of the forest cycle … that renewal inevitably follows destruction
… that forest renewal will recapture much of the carbon released by the
fires … that to intervene is to tinker with the natural order of things.
That may be so if one removes people from the equation … if we
ignore the fact that people live near or in those forests … if we forget
the fact that human decisions over time have made those fires much more
devastating.
In a briefing to Congress in June, as reported
in the Wall Street Journal, U.S. forest chief Dale Bosworth said that if
proper forest management had been implemented ten years ago – and if his
agency weren’t in the grip of “paralysis analysis” from environmental regulations
and lawsuits – the Hayman fire in Colorado would not have raged like an
inferno.
He presented Congress with a sobering report
on our national forests. Of the 192 million acres the Forest Service
administers, 73 million – more than a third – are at risk from severe fire.
Tens of millions of acres are dying from insects and diseases.
Thousands of miles of roads, critical to fighting fires,
are unusable. Those facts back up a General Accounting Office
report, which estimates that one in three federal forest acres is dead or
dying.
According to the Journal, a lack of forest management
in our national forests has resulted in “millions of acres choked with dead
wood, infected trees and underbrush. Many areas have more than
400 tons of dry fuel per acre – ten times the manageable level.
This is tinder that turns small fires into infernos.”
What
is the answer? Again to quote Mr. Bosworth: “There is
a choice. There is another way. We don’t have to have
this kind of fire burning in the national forests and threatening communities
and burning homes. And that way is by doing active management
of the land.”
A nationwide poll released just 10 days
ago shows that the vast majority of Americans agree with Mr. Bosworth.
Seventy percent support “thinning and harvesting trees” to reduce the risk
of wildfire and agree that forests should be managed.
I
would not advocate that all forests be intensively managed, but I believe
almost all forests would benefit from some degree of human oversight.
When it comes to forests, the word “managed” need not be a four-letter word.
Three years ago, I argued for a greater use of managed forests
worldwide to prevent deforestation … and relieve the pressure on forests
we want to keep in a more natural state.
In an essay
in Business Week magazine, I said: “Half the world’s annual wood
harvest of 3.5 billion cubic meters is being consumed for fuelwood … and
where this is the case, reforestation is rare.
“But
today’s sustainable forestry practices can grow trees in repeated rotations
without depleting the soil.
“Depending on
the region, modern forestry can grow from three to ten times the volume
of wood per acre as an unmanaged forest – and much more quickly.
“This provides society the opportunity to enjoy wood
and paper products on a sustainable basis without placing demands on the
world’s most ecologically significant natural forests – or those that people
wish to preserve for scenic, recreational or other purposes.”
Some experts have estimated that less than 5 percent of the world’s
forests would be required to meet present wood demand if all the timber
came from high-yield, managed forests.
On
the other hand, 20-40 percent would be required via unmanaged, naturally
regenerating forests.
At least one environmental group
has acknowledged the wisdom of this path. Last year, the World
Wildlife Federation stated: “If managed correctly, one-fifth of
the world’s forests could provide the industrial wood and wood fiber necessary
to meet projected future demands.” I believe we can do it with
even less.
Here in the South, the transition to managed
forests has enabled the region to double its timber production without reducing
the overall extent of forestland … while making possible a regional forest
products industry that employs 770,000 people in family-wage jobs.
It is true that the extent of naturally grown pine forests
has dropped from 72 million acres to 34 million acres since 1952 … but,
according to the recent Southern Forest Resource Assessment, this has little
to do with the forest products industry.
According
to a co-author of this multi-agency report, “population growth and urbanization
are the most significant challenges we face in sustaining forests.”
So if managed forests aren’t really a threat to natural forests,
why do so many people seem to fear them? I assure you that, as
the leader of a large forest products company, I get to hear all about these
fears.
The experience is both ironic and vexing,
since I believe that some of the most innovative and sustainable forestry
anywhere is being practiced on private, non-industrial and industrial forestlands.
Three decades ago, Dr. Norman Borlaug – a Nobel Prize winner in
the field of agriculture – talked about the problem of getting affluent
Americans to understand the benefits of managed agriculture and forestry.
“The greatest challenge,” he said, “lies in the failure
of the general public – especially in the relatively affluent United States
– to understand the complexities of what it takes to provide food and shelter
for a growing world population.”
“Not only
do they take it all for granted, but also many are bent on obstructing intensive
agriculture and forest management at every turn.”
In
fact, the U.S. Forest Service estimates the volume of wood in American forests
increased by 44 percent between 1963 and 1997. And in terms of
acreage, the U.S. has about the same area of forestland it did in 1920 …
even though there has been a 143 percent increase in population since then.
Like many fears, fear of managed forests is unfounded and stems
substantially from ignorance. These are some of the common misunderstandings
among our fellow citizens.
- They some people
in the Midwest believed that Washington state was nearly devoid of forests.
Instead, it is one of the most forested of all states.
- They
believe that harvested areas are not replanted. Obviously, many
people do not understand the economics of the forest products industry.
We have every reason to replant. At Weyerhaeuser, weather and
season of the year permitting, all our harvest areas are replanted within
a year.
- Our fellow citizens believe that America will
soon run out of trees. According to a survey by the Wood Promotion
Network, 75 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. Yet wood growth continues to outpace its harvest.
- They also believe that commercial forestry leads to species extinction.
While it’s true that some different species live in young forests as compared
with mature forests, there are actually more species dependent on young
forests for their survival.
I might add
– to the best of our scientific knowledge – no species has ever become extinct
in North America due to forestry.
Demand for wood and
paper products continues to rise with world population growth.
Why shouldn’t we set aside a percentage of our forests for the production
of those wood and paper products we use every day?
After all, as former Greenpeace founder Dr. Patrick Moore points
out, “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.”
Unfortunately, this is not the case. Meanwhile,
much of the world’s wood harvest each year is being burned for fuel and
not replanted.
One action Weyerhaeuser has taken is
to join with CARE International in a program in Nepal that promotes both
literacy and sustainable forestry. The goal
is to enable Nepalese citizens to earn a steady and reliable living and
lift themselves out of poverty. This program has been under way
for two years now – and it is accomplishing its goals. But this
is only one small step toward ending deforestation in much of the developing
world.
We need to do more. Large,
responsible commercial forest products companies can do more.
But only if we’re both permitted and incented to do so.
Instead, as Borlaug observed, there are groups dedicated to fighting
modern forestry, often proposing laws and regulations that could cripple
our efforts.
Now, I’d like to change gears a little and
talk about the relationship of forest products to you as foresters.
I’m no forester, but I am a businessman … and I can
tell you that the future of the American forestry profession is intertwined
with the American forest products industry. If the demand for
American forest products declines, so will the overall demand for American
foresters, regardless of the management regime you practice.
With that in mind, here are some facts for you to ponder:
- Substitutes for wood – such as steel, plastic and cement
– have made serious inroads into some of our product lines. Our
industry is taking action which I’ll describe shortly.
- Currently,
there is flat demand for many of the world’s wood and paper products … although
long-range forecasts encourage us to continue investing in our forestlands.
- A strong U.S. dollar has significantly hurt
U.S. competitiveness vis-à-vis European and other providers.
We are dealing with a global recession.
And
here are some additional concerns the forest products industry faces:
- Real prices for many of our finished products have
been declining over time.
- One can grow trees faster
and for less cost in the Southern Hemisphere – a global opportunity, but
a challenge to commercial foresters in North America.
- We
also face much greater environmental and other regulatory constraints than
producers in many other nations.
- Finally, countries
that once imported many American wood and paper products are now either
sourcing them from other countries or developing their own capabilities.
Now, looking at the facts I just enumerated, let me
ask you: What does the future of American forestry look like?
Not as rosy as we would like. But we shouldn’t throw in the towel.
We do have some advantages: skilled labor … competitive freight
costs into home markets … some of the highest-value tree species in the
world … great forestry schools … an entrepreneurial spirit … and – to repeat
– many of the best foresters in the world.
To compete,
however, we must continue to drive costs down in our manufacturing and in
our forestry practices – i.e., do more with less.
In
this regard, we need to continue improving the growth rates and commercial
attributes of the trees we grow for wood and paper production.
We’re an innovative people. We can do this.
A
second thing we can do is advocate for equivalent environmental regulations
worldwide – regulations which ensure effective stewardship of the world’s
working forests. American forest products companies should not
be penalized in the marketplace for achieving high standards of forest stewardship.
One of the movements that’s helping level the playing
field is the push for certification of forests and forest products.
As one might expect in a democratic society, there is
debate over whose standards should prevail. As the Chair of the
American Forest & Paper Association, I’m a supporter of AF&PA’s
Sustainable Forestry Initiative standards – or SFI.
My
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 are prohibited from doing
so, not only the forest products industry, but our nation’s forests, will
suffer.
Another thing we can all do is promote wood products
over those from other industries. For two years now, I’ve been
the co-chair of the Wood Promotion Network – or WPN.
WPN
is doing a great job of making the case for wood products, but funding is
limited compared with plastic and steel. I should also mention
that the American Forest & Paper Association is involved in promoting
wood products.
We should also be lobbying our governmental
representatives for a more stable regulatory environment in which to make
our long-term investment in trees.
Another thing we can
do is help educate our neighbors and the public in general about the benefits
of responsible, sustainable forestry. And don’t forget our future
citizens … our children.
For example, in Oregon,
Weyerhaeuser is one of the sponsors of a Forest Field Day for seventh-graders.
We also help educate people through our Cool Springs Environmental
Learning Center in North Carolina … and our Forest Learning Center near
Mount St. Helens in Washington state. In particular, the Forest
Learning Center – and the view from it – make clear the stark contrast between
the natural recovery rates of a forest after its destruction … and what
Mother Nature can accomplish with a helping hand from man.
Finally,
we must stand united as foresters and forest products manufacturers in promoting
the benefits of managed forests … however we might define them … or however
extensively we might apply them.
I would encourage
foresters to focus on common opponents: those who would deny legitimacy
to any forestry anywhere … and those who are deforesting large portions
of the world through poor, or nonexistent, forestry practices.
As Dale Bosworth has said: “We’ve got to quit arguing
about who’s right and start doing what’s right.”
My hope
is that one day managed forests will be seen as a solution and not as a
problem … and that deforestation will be ended. My hope is that
one day forest products will be universally viewed as the most environmentally
friendly products people can buy and use. My hope is that one
day everyone involved with modern forestry will be accorded the respect
and praise they deserve.
With your help – as professional,
dedicated and thoughtful foresters – this vision just might one day come
true.
