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The Growing Industrial Forest

Remarks by Timberlands External and Regulatory Affairs Vice President John McMahon
To: The First Global Conference on Paper and the Environment
Brussels, Belgium
June 7, 1993

Introduction:

It is an honor for me to be able to participate in the First Global Conference on Paper and the Environment. Before beginning the discussion of industrial forestry, I would like to provide a brief background on Weyerhaeuser Company.

Weyerhaeuser Company is one of the leading forest products companies in the United States and Canada, with 39,000 employees and annual sales of $9.3 billion. We are the world's largest producer of softwood lumber, and one of the largest North American exporters of pulp and paper products. Our 14 primary pulp and paper facilities in the U. S. and Canada represent 6.3 million tons of annual capacity. We handle over 1.8 million tons per year of recycled fiber, which makes us the 5th largest recycler in the United States.

Since our founding in Tacoma, Washington in 1900, the timberland resource that supports our operations has grown to 2.3 million hectares of privately owned timberland in the United States, plus 6.6 million hectares managed under long term license in three provinces in western Canada. These lands can accurately be described as industrial forests, since they are all managed to provide a sustainable flow of commercial timber to a wide range of manufacturing facilities and industrial customers.

World Demand for Wood:

To understand the role of industrial forests in world forest products trade, it is helpful to begin with an understanding of expected demand for wood and wood fiber. Population growth, and the desire for an improved standard of living in both developed and developing countries, is driving a steadily increasing demand for both wood and paper products. World population is forecast to increase from 5.3 billion people today to 10 billion people by the middle of the next century, an annual growth rate of 1.6 percent per year. However, demand for industrial roundwood for paper and forest products is growing at approximately 2 percent per year, and will reach 2 billion cubic meters per year by the end of this decade, according to a recent report by the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO, 1991).

Historically, most of the wood that society requires has come from natural forests, but it is now becoming apparent that we cannot rely on continued access to undeveloped natural forests to meet future industrial wood requirements. The remaining undeveloped natural forests, while extensive in total, are being rapidly depleted in some countries, particularly in the tropics. The rate of tropical deforestation, due principally to urbanization and clearing for agriculture, was estimated at 16.9 million hectares per year at the time of the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janiero (FAO, 1992).

Much of the world's remaining natural forest is the subject of relentless attention by international environmental groups, by concerned citizens and consumers, and by government policy makers. This concern is focused on the role that these forests play in maintaining global climate and biological diversity, their importance as the last remaining habitats for many threatened or endangered species, and the fact that they provide the opportunity for an increasingly urban population to experience the undisturbed natural forest environment before it is forever modified by development.

Within the next ten to twenty years most of the developed countries, and many of the developing nations, will make long term decisions about the amount of their remaining natural forests that will be reserved from development, or managed primarily to achieve resource objectives other than commercial timber production. An example from the Pacific Northwest in the United States illustrates this trend. Less than 20 percent of the land on nineteen publicly owned National Forests in Washington and Oregon are considered suitable and available for timber production, yet this percentage is likely to be further reduced in the near future in order to reserve more habitat for threatened and endangered species, and because the majority of the public wants to protect more of the remaining old growth timber on federal lands from harvest.

Consequently, we can expect that an increasing percentage the wood required for lumber, structural panels, and pulp and paper products will come from industrial forests, and other private and public forests, that are recognized by society as being managed for commercial timber production, thereby reducing the need to continue developing additional natural forest area for that purpose.

Fortunately, in many parts of the world we now have over fifty years of experience in demonstrating what industrial forests can produce under intensive forest management. Intensively managed forests are providing wood for our industry in locations as diverse as the United States, Canada, Europe, Sweden, Finland, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, and Chile.

Industrial Forestry in the United States:

To illustrate the potential for intensive forest management, I will describe our own company's experience. One of the major milestones in industrial forestry in the United States occurred on June 12, 1941, when we dedicated our Clemons Tree Farm in Washington state to long-term sustained yield management. This event was made possible by establishing a reliable forest fire protection system, and by initiating early research on forest regeneration methods. Prior to that time, private forest land that had been harvested was commonly converted to agricultural uses, or left idle to regenerate naturally.

Since 1941, the industry-sponsored Tree Farm system in the United States has grown to over 38.5 million hectares, owned and managed by more than 35 companies and over 70 thousand nonindustrial private landowners. Industrial forests now represent 15 percent of the commercial forest lands in the United States, and lead all other ownership categories in annual per hectare growth and productivity.

As mentioned earlier, since 1941 Weyerhaeuser Company's private forests in the United States have increased to 2.3 million hectares, with an additional 6.6 million hectares in British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan managed under long term licenses with those three Canadian provinces.

All of these lands are managed using combinations of proven intensive forestry practices. In all cases, rapid regeneration following harvest is assured, normally by planting genetically improved seedlings within one year. The seedlings that we plant are produced in one of our eight western or southern nurseries. Our nursery system provides us with the ability to produce many different tree species adapted to our own lands, as well as seedlings for sale to other forest landowners.

Competing vegetation is controlled where necessary through careful application of selective herbicides. Many stands are precommercially thinned by age twelve to maintain optimum spacing for vigorous growth.

Intermediate-aged stands on favorable terrain are scheduled for commercial thinning. In our southern loblolly pine forests, commercial thinning to produce pulping fiber and improve spacing normally takes place by age 15, followed by a second thinning by age 25. Douglas fir stands in the Northwest can be thinned to produce small sawlogs as early as age 30.

Fertilization is an important silvicultural treatment on lands where our soil surveys show nutrient deficiencies. Nitrogen, applied in the form of urea, and phosphorous are the most common elements required to enhance growth on our U. S. forest lands, and may be applied up to three or four times during one rotation.

Long term growth and yield is further enhanced by our extensive research and operational experience in genetic tree improvement. Essentially all of the trees that we plant come from seed produced in our own seed orchards, and represent one generation of tree improvement. An increasing percentage of our southern seedlings are grown from seed produced in second generation seed orchards.

To provide perspective on the scale at which these silvicultural practices are applied, in 1992 alone, we planted over 40 thousand hectares with 44 million seedlings, precommercially thinned over 17 thousand hectares, and applied nutrients to almost 68 thousand hectares of both planted and natural stands. Over 1.3 million hectares of our forests in the U. S. are planted stands that have received combinations of these treatments.

An example from the Douglas fir region, in the Pacific Northwest, illustrates the leverage that this series of silvilcultural treatments can have on per-hectare growth and yield. In our experience in the Douglas fir region, planting alone increases productivity by 90 percent over an unmanaged, naturally regenerated stand. First generation tree improvement adds at least 10 percent, and thinning and fertilization approximately 70 percent. The combined effect of this series of silvicultural treatments, over a forty-to-fifty year rotation, is a 180 percent increase in the growth and yield that could be expected from an unmanaged stand. On high-site Douglas fir timberland, this represents an additional 525 cubic meters of wood per hectare at time of harvest.

Application to Industrial Forestry Worldwide:

The silvicultural practices illustrated in this example are not unique to Weyerhaeuser Company, nor are they unique to the United States. Similar proven practices are being implemented on industrial forests in other countries, on many nonindustrial private lands, and on many public forests as well. Recent data indicates that there are now approximately 128 million hectares of planted forests being managed in at least 24 countries (Brooks, 1993).

The growth rates achieved using intensive silvicultural practices are consistently greater than what is attainable under unmanaged conditions, and are particularly impressive in the southern hemisphere, where Brazil, Chile, and New Zealand set the pace for the rest of the world in mean annual increment achieved in planted forests.

There is little doubt that the intensive silviculture that I have described can significantly increase per hectare growth and yield during the first rotation. There are legitimate scientific questions about whether growth rates of this magnitude can be sustained over multiple rotations. Research to date in temperate region forests indicates that these growth and yield levels can be sustained, provided that soil nutrient balance and organic matter are maintained. However, continuing research and monitoring will be necessary over a long period of time to verify the actual growth that can be achieved in subsequent rotations.

Sustainable Forestry:

While we have demonstrated that intensively managed forests are successful in growing wood, we have not yet convinced the public that industrial forests are sustainable, or that they are being managed to provide adequate protection for the other resources that people expect from forests. Questions are being raised about whether intensively managed forests can maintain long-term forest health, provide favorable wildlife habitat, and maintain water quality and stream habitats needed to protect the fisheries resource. Some customers are beginning to ask for assurances that the wood and paper products they require are, in fact, being produced from sustainable forests.

Recent reports and governmental policy actions have highlighted public expectations for sustainable development, and the importance of sustainable forests to the health of ecosystems, social well-being, and economic development. Perhaps best known is the Bruntland Commission report (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987) but, more recently, the Forestry Principles adopted at the 1992 UNCED Conference in Rio de Janiero (UNCED, 1992), have made it clear that society expects that forests will be managed to sustain a wider array of forest resources than wood production alone.

Recognition of this fact is causing foresters to re-think how they apply foresty prescriptions to both large forested landscapes and to site-specific situations. Most foresters of my generation learned to think about silviculture in terms of stand-level prescriptions, without considering the implications for the broader landscape, or ecosystem. Today in the United States, there is a considerable amount of effort underway to define the ecosystem principles appropriate for federal lands, and how private forest lands can contribute to ecosystem management. A similar effort is occurring on provincial forest lands in Canada.

In Washington state, several of our forest managers and research scientists participated in a recent workshop sponsored by the University of Washington, College of Forest Resources, that identified the following ecological objectives for industrial forest lands (University of Washington, 1993).

  • Protection of riparian areas and wetlands areas and wetlands
  • Provision of habitat for early and mid-successional species
  • Assisting public land managers in meeting their responsibilities for late-successional ecosystems
  • Maintaining site productivity

Forest Practices in the United States:

The ecological objectives now being identifed for industrial forest lands are the latest development in the recent history of private forest practice in the United States. During the past twenty years, forest management on private lands has become increasingly subject to requirements to protect and enhance water quality, wildlife and fisheries habitat, and other nontimber resources.

The Pacific Coast states of Washington, Oregon, and California have comprehensive forest practices laws and regulations that specify timber harvesting and road construction standards, regeneration requirements, and protection measures for water quality, riparian zones, and a variety of wildlife habitat characteristics.

Forestry operations in other parts of the United States are conducted according to voluntary best management practices developed cooperatively by the forest industry and state forestry agencies. The end-result goals are the same; protection of public resources and the basic environmental attributes of managed forests, while maintaining the ability and incentive for private forest landowners to produce a continuous supply of timber for future generations.

In recognition of the changing public expectations for industrial forest stewardship, the American Paper Institute, now known as the American Forest and Paper Association, in 1992 adopted Forest Management Principles that established nationwide performance goals for industrial forest lands (American Paper Institute, 1992). Member companies are pledged to implement these Principles, which include:

  • Practicing a land stewardship ethic which integrates the growing, nurturing, and harvesting of trees for useful products with the conservation of soil, air, and water quality, wildlife and fish habitat, and aesthetics.
  • Managing forests to maintain and improve their health and productivity.
  • Promoting successful reforestation, thus preventing deforestation or the loss of forest productivity.
  • Managing forests in biologically, geologically, and historically significant areas in a manner that takes into account their special qualities.
  • Supporting research and employing state-of-the-art scientific and sivicultural knowledge to enhance forest resources.
  • Protecting forests from wildfire, insects, diseases, and other damaging agents.
  • Providing a safe and healthy work environment for industry employees, and continuing to improve management of our operations to better protect public health and safety.
  • Strengthening educational and communications efforts to improve understanding of the wise use of forest resources and to respond to public concerns.

Industrial forestry performance goals such as these will become normal expected practice over the next few years, certainly in the developed countries, and likely in the developing countries for forests that are managed by international forest products companies. Rather than resist this expectation, we should view such performance goals as an opportunity to demonstrate that industrial forestry is an environmentally preferred land use where a broad range of forest resource goals can be satisfied and sustained.

Summary:

In summary, increasing population and growing demand for forest products are placing an unacceptable burden on the world's remaining natural forests. In the next few years, large areas of the remaining primary forests will be reserved from commercial use in order to protect biological diversity and endangered species habitats, as well as to ameliorate global climate change.

Future paper and forest products requirements will be increasingly provided by industrial forests, and other intensively managed private and public forests. Worldwide experience with intensive forest management has shown that per hectare growth and yield can be significantly increased.

Managers of industrial forests are now being challenged to demonstrate that intensive forestry is sustainable, and compatible with broader ecosystem management goals. During this decade foresters around the world are learning to integrate intensive silvicultural practices with protection of wildlife habitats and other environmental goals.

As we approach the next century, we are entering a period of tremendous opportunity for industrial forest landowners. People around the world require the wood products that industrial forests provide. Intensive management of private forest land will enable society to preserve the best of our remaining natural forests for noncommercial uses. It is truly a time when the public will both understand and realize the benefits of farsighted and long-term industrial forest stewardship.


References:

American Paper Institute. 1992. Forest Management Principles. Washington, D. C.

Brooks, David J. 1993. U. S. Forests in a Global Context: an issue paper for the Resources Planning Act Assessment. USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Corvallis, Oregon.

Food and Agricultural Organization. 1991. Forest Products: World outlook projections. Forestry Paper 84. Rome: United Nations. Volume 1, 190 p.

Food and Agricultural Organization. 1992b. The forest resources of the tropical zone by main ecological regions. Rio de Janiero, Brazil: United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. 30 p.

Haynes, Richard W. 1990. An Analysis of the Timber Situation in the United States: 1989-2040. USDA Forest Service. General Technical Report RM-l99. Washington, D. C.

UNCED. 1992. Non-legally Binding Authoritative Statement of Principles For A Global Consensus On The Management, Conservation, and Sustainable Development Of All Types Of Forests. United Nations Conference on Environement and Development. Rio de Janiero, Brazil. 3-14 June 1992. 7 p.

University of Washington. 1993. The Role of Industrial Forestlands in the Management of Western Washington's Forest Ecosystems. Olympic Natural Resources Center, College of Forest Resources. Seattle, Washington.

WCED. 1987. Our Common Future. The World Commission On Environment And Development. Oxford University Press. 400 P

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