Are healthy forest profits and forest health mutually exclusive? Bill Ginn, The Nature Conservancy's Director of Global Forest Partnerships, says no.
Ginn lines up as the latest co-chair for the now-biennial Small Log Conference, coming to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, March 28-30. Registration is currently under way, with an attendance cap of 200 participants.
"We need a better dialogue between the forest industry and the conservation community," said Ginn, author of the book, "Investing in Nature."
"We have much in common. For us, it's about healthy forests and biodiversity, and for industry, it's about profit. We have different motives, but we can work together and collaborate to reach common goals," he said.
With a reputation for bringing together national and international players specializing in small-diameter log utilization, the three-day conference offers an in-the-woods tour as well as a tour of a high-tech sawmill specializing in small-diameter log processing. Program segments include the global perspective on conservation and forest industries; forest management; transportation and harvesting; processing techniques and product markets; and actual case studies.
A suppliers showcase will feature innovative equipment, products and solutions aimed at small log utilization. Additionally, new conference sponsor TimberBuySell.com will demonstrate a new website created especially for small-diameter processors and buyers.
"This is a continuation of the previous focus on small logs," said conference manager Jan Raulin. "It's about the forest industry and the conservation community working together. It's about global markets, and forest management on both public and private lands. We want to keep exploring what we can produce, and give processors and mill owners ideas for the future."
For environmentalists such as Ginn, matching conservation with profit is a real-life experience. In the past, the Maine resident looked to mill ash waste to enhance his small farm's soil fertility, and eventually took the value-added concept to a successful business level. Like many other businessmen in the private forest sector, Ginn claims that healthy forests and healthy profits actually help promote sustainability. Working with The Nature Conservancy, Ginn usually promotes his viewpoint in the management of national forests.
Raulin says the conference offers solutions and networking opportunities to a variety of attendees, including community development specialists, conservationists, entrepreneurs, forest industry partners and political figures. The 2005 event attracted several participants who actually networked to craft solutions for Southwest forests overstocked with small-diameter timber. Subsequent partnerships sparked new products and reduced wildfire potential, building on recent Forest Service stewardship programs.
"The content of the conference was the reason I attended," said Kathy Robles, a representative from the San Bernardino County Department of Economic and Community Development, who attended in 2005. "There just wasn't anywhere else I could get the information I wanted and needed."The Capital Press
