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ASSOCIATION NEWS

Christensen Joins the SFI Board of Directors

Daniel P. Christensen will add his expertise to the Sustainable Forestry Initiative Inc. (SFI®) Board of Directors.

Christensen, CEO of Hancock Natural Resource Group and President of Hancock Timber Resource Group, brings more than 35 years of forestry and investment experience to the SFI Board of Directors. In announcing his appointment, SFI President and CEO Kathy Abusow noted Mr. Christensen’s on-the-ground practical experience and his familiarity with international timber markets and issues.

Mr. Christensen is responsible for the overall operation and growth of Hancock Natural Resource Group and its investments in timberland and farmland. As CEO, he is responsible for the forest management of Hancock Timber’s extensive global timberland portfolio. Mr. Christensen is the Chairman of Hancock Timber’s Natural Resource Investment Committee and serves on numerous boards of timberland companies.

OWIT’s Talk about Trees Reaches Thousands of Students

Talk About Trees (TAT) finished another successful year of teaching Oregon children and adults about trees and forests. During the 2012-2013 school year, TAT visited with 139,029 people across the state. “Next school year, we are
projecting that we will exceed 150,000 participants,” says Joan Mason Rudd.

“Next year will be an exciting one for TAT. We now have a TAT Facebook page and a working group for Facilitators on Facebook. We will be bringing back the annual TAT Facilitator Meeting. We will now be meeting at the Oregon Logging Conference, and the Facilitators will be able to help with the school tours and auction preparations.”

Planning Rule Lawsuit

On August 13, AFRC and others filed a lawsuit in federal court to overturn the Forest Planning Rule, which the Forest Service adopted last April.

AFRC’s (the lead plaintiff) complaint alleges the 2012 Rule:

• Establishes “ecological sustainability” as an overriding objective of national forest management, to take precedence over the purposes of conservation of water flow and assurance of a continuous supply of timber set out in the Organic Act and the five objectives listed in the Multiple-Use Sustained-Yield Act (MUSY) (outdoor recreation, range, timber, watershed, and wildlife and fish).
• Violates the Organic Act by mandating the provision of “ecosystem services” on par with the objectives of the MUSY Act.
• Places maintenance of viable populations of plant and animal species of conservation concern ahead of statutorily mandated multiple use objectives.
• Violates the National Forest Manage-ment Act (NFMA) by limiting the scope of agency decision-making.
• Unlawfully restricts salvage and sanitation logging.
• Violates the MUSY Act and NFMA by narrowing the definition of permissible recreation on national forest lands.

The case will likely be decided through motions and not require a trial.

Educate Candidates

Christine Cadigan, manager of public affairs for the American Forest Foundation is urging everyone to educate their candidates on issues that impact family forest owners.

“We made it simple for you to send a quick message to all of your candidates to let them know why family forests are important and the issues you face,” says Cadigan.

Just log on to http://www.treefarmsystem.org/election-toolkit, and you will not only find tools to send a message to your candidate, you will learn how to organize a forum, find questions to ask at a town hall event, and get information about writing a letter to the editor.

“Remember, our future policy successes directly depend on our ability to educate candidates and future decision-makers on the importance of family forests,” says Cadigan. “Healthy and productive forests help strengthen our rural communities and provide Americans with invaluable public benefits. Now is the time to get our issues at the forefront of candidates’ minds, so they’ll carry your message to Washington, D.C. in November.