Forest Products and Forest Health
Denver, CO (September 2, 2009). Hard times have hit our western rural communities and our forested landscapes. The loss of an economically-viable forest products industry has put our western forests and communities in great peril. As our new administration delivers a new vision for forests, the Western Forestry Leadership Coalition (WFLC) a group of state and federal forestry leaders released their new video and recommendations on how revitalizing the forestry sector will play a critical role in the restoration of our nations forests and economies.
Our recommendations could not come at a better time, comments Pete Anderson, Nevada State Forester and State-Chair of the WFLC. The economic downturn has led to permanent mill closures resulting in a 25% decrease in employment and a 35% decrease in labor income since 2005. We have a new emphasis on the need to revitalize our economy and now a new vision to restore our forests. The Coalitions recommendations work with both, states Anderson.
Agriculture Secretary, Tom Vilsack, recently outlined a new vision for the future of our nations forests. He recognized that forests help generate rural wealth through the creation of green jobs, and that the production of wood products and energy calls for forest restoration that leads to non-traditional markets for climate change mitigation and biomass energy while appropriately recognizing the need for more traditional uses of forest resources. He also stated that the Forest Service must protect and maintain all American forests, including state and private lands.
The video and recommendations are just one of the Coalitions strategic initiatives focused on keeping working forests working. The Coalitions work on other issues such as wildfire coordination and suppression funding, forest health, and economic recovery all support the Secretarys vision.
"The WFLC and the collaborative work of its partners are key components to the kind of work we do and our ability to create and sustain healthy forests," states Rick Cables, USFS Rocky Mountain Regional Forester and Federal-Chair of the WFLC. These partnerships must go beyond federal and state agreements; they need to include the private sector and, most importantly, collaborate with local communities. It's just a good way of doing business."
The Western Forestry Leadership Coalitions video provides a tapestry of conversations and landscapes demonstrating how and why a vibrant forest products industry a green jobs industry stimulates the economy while also creating healthy forests. The accompanying briefing paper lays out related issues and offers clear, practical recommendations from the WFLC. The recommendations include:
- Explore new markets for small logs and woody biomass,
- Link ecological and economic forest management goals,
- Compete globally to maintain the benefits of forests,
- Rethink traditional markets,
- Explore innovative uses for wood, and
- Enhance federal, state, and private forestry partnerships.
