Sustainability

The White Mountain Stewardship Project, a 10-year project that began in 2004, has thinned more than 40,000 acres in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests while creating jobs, enhancing rural development and resulting in healthier forests.

The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) forest certification program has announced its 2011 Request for Proposals for Conservation and Community Partnerships Grants, inviting applications for projects that address current topics of importance to the SFI program.

March 1st marked the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Weeks Act. The law, introduced by Congressman John W. Weeks, authorized the Secretary of Agriculture to "Examine, locate and recommend for purchase ... such lands within the watersheds of navigable streams as ... may be necessary to the regulation of flow of navigable streams...." The Act further allowed for lands so acquired to be preserved and maintained as national forests.

The Arbor Day Foundation honored the 16 of the nation's exemplary tree planters and environmental stewards on April 30 with the National Arbor Day Awards.

Dozens of foresters from North America gathered in West Virginia this week for a conference about the future of state nurseries. Many of the speakers also focused on reforestation, especially on post-mined land.

The Forest Stewardship Council is coordinating the development of an FSC-US National Risk Assessment for Controlled Wood (CW). A CW Working Group is being formed to develop and provide recommendations to the FSC-US Board regarding all parts of the National Risk Assessment. The chamber-balanced working group will be comprised of nine FSC stakeholders from varied sectors within each chamber and varied geographic regions in the US.

The U.S. Supreme Court recently issued an order asking the Solicitor General for the views of the federal government on two petitions challenging the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling that forest roads are "point sources" requiring an industrial discharge permit under the Clean Water Act (CWA).

USDA will conduct a four-week Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) general signup, beginning on March 12 and ending on April 6. CRP is a voluntary program available to agricultural producers to help them use environmentally sensitive land for conservation benefits.

The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) has released a SFI 2010-2014 Standard based on 14 core principles that promote sustainable forest management, including measures to protect water quality, biodiversity, wildlife habitat, species at risk, and Forests with Exceptional Conservation Value.  For more information, read a news release about the launch of the new standard, a summary of significant revisions from the previous version, and

Booming demand for food, fuel and wood as the world's population surges from six to nine billion will put unprecedented and unsustainable demand on the world's remaining forests, according to two new reports from the U.S.-based Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI).