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Thursday, March 28, 2024
Transparency in Forestry Management Practices: A Unified Voice for Mass Timber’s Sustainability Story
Oregon Ballroom 202 | Overflow: B115-116Moderator:
The People Who Make Sustainable Forest Management Happen
As more attention is turned to forests and forest products as a climate solution, the question of what constitutes sustainable forest products continues to be raised. While there are programs that outline sustainable practices and supply chains like SFI, FSC, and PEFC, this discussion will be focused on the professionals who are educated in the scientific fundamentals of sustainable forest management to ensure multiple values (wildlife, water quality, soil stability, and forest health) are considered in management planning for public, private, and industrial lands.
Using Mill Data to Provide U.S. Wood Sourcing Sustainability Assurances
As mass timber and other wood products are increasingly promoted as a sustainable, low-carbon building material, there is a natural concern about the impacts of wood use on forests. Many are asking the question “how can I tell if wood is sustainably-sourced?”
To answer this question, the American Wood Council (AWC) has developed an online wood sourcing website based on the ASTM D6712 Fiber Sourcing standard. Using AWC member company mill data, the site presents regional statistics for the three categories of sustainability assurances: 1) Non-controversial (legal), 2) Responsible, and 3) Certified. The site presents North American forestry facts, resources, and data which support the notion that wood products sourced in the U.S are sustainable and do not cause deforestation.
In this presentation, we’ll dive into the different wood sourcing categories and explain the mill-level assurances that A&E professionals can look to for assurance of sustainability of the products they specify.
Managing Forests for Climate, Wood Products, and Biodiversity
Climate change is a wicked problem full of complexity, confusion, and potential conflict. Luckily, forests are a positively wicked solution. The climate solutions provided by forests offer ecological resilience, co-benefits for people and planet, and support everything from high-tech innovations to ancient practices. What are forest landowners, researchers, land managers, and our partners doing to support the climate benefits of forests? What does forest management look like when we balance protection of biodiversity, production of wood products, and the need to address climate change? What is needed to support and expand these approaches? This presentation will address the urgency for us to change our mindsets about what is possible. To realize the potential of managing forests for climate, wood products, and biodiversity we need to open our imaginations, reject a scarcity mindset, see complexity as an asset, and embrace more than one right way of living a forest-based culture.
