Sustainable forestry is not a new idea. It has been around for centuries and first brought here around the turn of the century by Gifford Pinchot, who started the first forestry school at the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina. The rewards of sustainable forestry benefit us all. Its practice has given us forests growing 33 percent faster than they are being harvested, abundant wildlife, pure water, and recreational opportunities for everyone to enjoy. However, many Americans are asking questions. As our population expands and our economy grows, responsible people are concerned about our forests. They want assurances that our forests will always be there.

To that end, early in 1995 the forestry community, led by the American Forest and Paper Association (AF & PA), embarked on a bold new long-term program designed to enhance the way forestry is practiced in this country. It's called the Sustainable Forestry Initiative or SFI for short, a comprehensive program of forestry and conservation practices designed to ensure that future generations of Americans will have the same abundant forests that we enjoy today.

The SFI is the most unique, comprehensive nation-wide approach to good forest stewardship ever devised. AF & PA sought the input of state officials, academicians from our leading forestry schools, conservation groups, and scores of loggers and small landowners. From these discussions evolved a set of principles and guidelines to make environmental protection a real and permanent factor in the planning and conduct of forest management. For the first time more than 250 forest and paper companies, through their trade organization, American Forest and Paper Association, have agreed and committed to this set of environmental principles and guidelines under which they will practice. Most importantly, the benefits of this initiative apply not only to forest industry land, but reach out to non-industrial private landowners, loggers, and others.

The SFI is based ultimately on actions- real, measurable actions- that will signify industry's progress in meeting its sustainable forestry objectives. For that reason, the SFI will be open to public scrutiny. Each year, AF & PA will make available to the public its annual Sustainable Forestry Progress Report. The Progress Report will record the sustainable forestry actions taken by member companies and allied groups throughout the previous year. The latest data from public and private sources will be included to describe the state of our forests.

Already results can be seen. Last year, as documented in the second annual Progress Report, forest and paper companies:

• Reforested 1.2 million acres of forest land;
• Spent $62 million on sustainable forestry research to improve wildlife habitat, forest health and water quality;
• Supported training programs for loggers, more than 7,000 trained;
• Reduced the average size of clear cuts from 66 to 61 acres; and
• Informed more than 41,000 private woodland owners about sustainable forestry practices.

To promote the goal of sustainable forestry within the entire forestry community, committees in 32 states have been established to advance the SFI principles and expand their use among nonindustrial private landowners as well as loggers. Participating on these committees are representatives of state forestry agencies, forestry associations, logging contractors, state universities, conservation organizations, and other groups. Some of the data the state committees are attempting to provide, such as statewide rates of harvesting and reforestation, have never been collected before. As this data becomes more complete, it will be incorporated in future SFI reports.

Here in Indiana, early SFI efforts have focused on committee memberships and organization. Our state SFI committee was solidified last fall with the Indiana Hardwood Lumbermen's Association serving as the coordinating organization and composed of representatives from seven long standing organizations:

Indiana Hardwood Lumbermen's Association Indiana Forest Industry Council

Indiana Forest Woodland Owners' Association

Indiana Association of Consulting Foresters

Indiana Tree Farm Committee

Forestry Division of Indiana Department of Natural Resources

Purdue University

The group's purpose is two-fold. First, promote the spirit, intent, and principles of SFI as defined by AF & PA and by the National Hardwood Lumber Association. And secondly, to report related activities for inclusion in the national campaign.

Our immediate challenge is to create a reporting system to best capture and consolidate the statistics, and the many ongoing programs which relate to SFI issues. Also for 1997 along with increasing awareness of SFI we are pursuing the purchase of a portable timber bridge to be leased out to harvesting operations. The project will promote BMP's, increase logging productivity, improve water quality, and promote the use of portable bridge structures across the state. This project is made possible in part by a grant from the U.S. Forest Service. They must have thought highly of our project because it was one of nine projects approved from over 100 applicants.

The SFI does not alter an important fact: production of wood continues to pay the bills for all the components of sustainable forest management. Without profitable forest management- from any mix of forest products- the expanses of privately owned forestland in the U.S. will increasingly be converted to non-forest uses under the pressures of population growth and competing economic demands.

Today's forestry leaders have the ability to see further into the future with regard to the environmental impact of forestry operations than any previous generation. We can have a strong, healthy forestry community while conserving our nation's most valuable resource - our forests. The Sustainable Forestry Initiative is based on the belief that committed landowners and forestry professionals can lead the forestry community into a new era of heightened environmental concern, whereby gaining public trust.

• Meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to use the forest for products as well as for ecological and other uses products as well as for ecological and other uses.
• Promote both environmentally and economically responsible practices on AF & PA members' and all other forest lands
• Improve long-term forest health and productivity by protecting forests against wildfire, pests, and disease.
• Manage forests of biological, geological, or historical significance to protect their special qualities.
  Continuously improve forest management and regularly track progress toward achieving the goal of sustainable forestry.

1. Broaden the practice of sustainable forestry
2. Ensure prompt reforestation
3. Protect water quality
4. Enhance wildlife habitat
5. Minimize the visual impact of harvesting
6. Protect special sites
7. Contribute to biodiversity
8. Continue to improve wood utilization

9. Continue the prudent use of forest chemicals to ensure forest health

10. Foster the practice of sustainable forestry on all Forestlands

11. Publicly report progress

12. Provide opportunities for public outreach

For more information on SFI contact: IHLA, 3600 Woodview Trace, Suite 305, Indianapolis, Indiana 46768, (317) 875-3660.