DRAFT
MEETING
SUMMARY
Agenda and Attendees:Ê The agenda for the meeting and aA Llists of the meeting Êaattendees
and
observers isare
included in Attachments A
& B.A.
Jerry
Rose, Co-chair of the
Roundtable on Sustainable Forests (Roundtable) and Sustainable Forestry
Representative for the National Association of State Foresters (NASF), and Co-chair of
the Roundtable on Sustainable Forests (Roundtable), welcomed
participants and turned to his Co-chair Phil Janik, U.S. Department of
Agriculture Forest Service (USFSDA Forest Service) for
opening remarks.Ê Mr. Janik recognized
some of the organizations at the table were among the initial signatories of a critical letter
written in the spring of 1998 and signed by the NASF, Society of American
Foresters, World Wildlife Fund (WWF), National Audubon Society, American
Forest and Paper Association, and the Global Forest Policy Project.Ê This letter, supportinged the use of the Criteria and
Indicators (C&I) contained in the Santiago Declaration of the Montreal
Process as a framework to measure national progress towards sustainable
forests and called on stating that
there was f the need for Federal
agencies to coordinate with the USDA
Forest ServiceUSFS to compile and report on
data
relevant to the C&Inot
enough federal support of sustainability as a concept and goal, or
on the Criteria and Indicators (C&I) contained in
the Santiago Declaration of the Montreal Process.Ê The USDA Forest ServiceFS Chief at the time,
Michael Dombeck, responded to the letter by initiating the Chiefâs first
meeting of the Roundtable, at which the Natural Resources
Conservation Service, Bureau of Land Management, Environmental Protection
Agency, USFSUSDA Forest Service USFS, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and National Park
Service met with representatives of key
stakeholders to
discuss the C&I and affirm their federal governmentâs commitment to
implementing
the C&Iagreed to work together to determine an approach to
achieving sustainable forests.Ê
Mr. Janik noted that Based on this discussion, the Roundtable on
Sustainable Forests was formed as a forum to share information and perspectives
to enable better decision making in the US regarding sustainable
forests.Ê
Mr. Janik explained
that thesince
the initial meeting of the Roundtable, participants Êdeveloped a charter
with an initial focus of the Roundtable was on implementingapplying
the C&I.Ê Since its formation, the Roundtable,
established several work groups, and held a series of technical workshops
on the C&I.Ê Subsequent to the
workshopsCurrently, the Roundtable has increasingly turned its
attention to using the C&I as a framework for dialogue on issues related to
and progress toward sustainable forest managemenmanagementt -has a
broader focus Êon the
concept of sustainability, encompassing environmental,
social and economic aspects of sustainability.Ê Mr. JanikMr. Janik characterized
the Roundtable not as a decision making body, but as an open and inclusive
partnership of public and private organizations and individuals who come
together to learn and share perspectives on sustainable forest management.Ê He viewed
thise
Executive Leadership meeting as a three-year ãpulse checkä on the
progress of the Roundtable.Ê
Background on the Roundtable and
Implementation of the Montreal Process Criteria & Indicators
Jerry Rose presented a slide show prepared by the Roundtableâs
Communication and Outreach Work Group (COWG) on the background of
the Roundtable and implementation of the C&I.Ê (A copy
of the slide show is included
in Attachment BC.)Ê Mr.
Rose highlighted milestones and theintroduced a Êtimeline for producing the 2003National Report on Sustainable Forest
Management (the ã2003 Reportä).Ê He
referenced other
parallel activities on of the Sustainable
Rangeland, Minerals, and Water Roundtables and noted the possible future need
for more formal coordination between and among these groups and the activities of the
Roundtable to share information and reduce the potential for
duplicating
effortson.Ê ÊÊ
Mr. Rose also provided updates on two related opportunities
regarding sustainable forests, including .Ê Tthe U..S..
preparation on forest issues related to the World Summit on Sustainable
Development, which
will take place in Johannesburg, South Africa, in September 2002, and .Ê In addition, the second first of a series of
United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) Sessions which will take place in March, June 2002,1 in Costa RicaNew York.Ê A central tenet of the
UNFF is the implementation of the ãProposals for Actionä and their implications
for sustainable forest management in the U.S.Ê Mr. Rose described several
opportunities for the Roundtable to become involved in the UNFF, including providing
input into an assessment of the Proposals for Action and plans for their
implementation, and input into monitoring and reporting of their
implementation.Ê (Attachment D is Aa description of the structure of the UNFF
Sessions.)Ê
Mr. Rose then introduced Forest Service Chief, Dale Bosworth,
Chief of the USFS., Table 1, is in Attachment C.
Phil Janik introduced USDA Forest ServiceFS Chief Dale Bosworth commented on Êpresented for comments on the USDA Forest ServiceâsFSâs commitment to
sustainable forest management and the Roundtable.Ê (Attachment E contains a copy of the Chiefâs comments is presented
in Attachment D.)Ê Chief Bosworth notedcommented on
the importance of collaboration, both within the USDA Forest ServiceFS and with other
organizations.Ê He viewed iImproving communication and
collaboration within the ed understanding among the units and between USFSDA Forest Service
field and national headquarters as a means to will help to strengthen
partnerships with local communities, sStates,
tribes and other organizations that share thethe
responsibility for forests.Ê Building better
relationships with local communities, states, and tribes will help.Ê These relationships will help to
to actualize sustainable
resource management by informing a diversity of efforts on-the-groundon the ground,
efforts including restoring forest and rangeland health,
increasing access to recreational land, and protecting lives and communities
from wildfires through local involvement in developing and
implementing solutions.Ê
Chief
Bosworth emphasized the USDA Forest ServiceUSFSâs commitment to
sustainability as a long-term goal.Ê As it
works to turn the policy of sustainable development into action, the USFS
recognizes the need to reach agreement on a definition
for sustainability, and how to measure it and
manage for it.Ê Reflecting this commitment, Last year, the
USDA Forest ServiceUSFS recently updated
its mission to incorporate the elements of sustainable development as defined
through the work of the Brundlandt Commission in the 1980s, the Earth Summit in
1992, and the Montreal Process.Ê The USDA
Forest ServiceUSFS also As stated in the
long-term Strategic Plan: ãThe mission of the USDA Forest Service is to sustain
the health, diversity, and productivity of the nationâs forests and grasslands
to meet the needs of present and future generations.äÊ The USFS knows the concept of sustainability and
the understanding of it will continue to evolve.Ê It values the work of the Roundtable
and supports the use of the C&I as the initial and best framework to
measure sustainability.Ê Further,
The Chief commented that managing
sustainability into the 21st century will require integrating
environmental, social, and economic concerns to address ãrealä
issues with ãrealä people in the
field.Ê It will also necessitate
starting
on-the-ground using science using science to to understand
more about management options, and integrating applicable laws and the, and
einsuring
the
institutional framework is in place to
address these concerns in a collaboratively way.Ê Sustainability is not
isolated to one piece of property but crosses ownerships and boundaries.Ê
In addition, Chief Bosworth stated that the USDA Forest ServiceUSFS will continue to
advance the use of the C&I as exemplified shown by USDA Forest ServiceUSFSâs application of
the seven Criteria C&I to
organize the 2002 Assessment of Forest and Range lands, and the application use of
the C&I in six national forests in the ethe east and wwest to test C&I applications their usefulness and gain
a better understanding offor their use across varying scales.Ê The USDA Forest ServiceUSFS is also working with the states ofsuch aslike
Oregon and Michigan on local programs, and at the ecoregional, national and
global scales to better integrate different scales of application.
Chief Bosworth commented that the USDA
Forest ServiceUSFS supports and plans to continue to support the Roundtable acknowledged
the importance of the Roundtable as a forum with and
supported its a focus on the C&I as a
framework for sustainable forest management.Ê He also The USFS plans
to continue to its support the
Roundtable.Ê Chief
Bosworth also recognized the importance of other similar efforts
regarding rangeland, minerals and watersheds.Ê
Chief
Bosworth He called attention to the
Roundtableâs role in inspiring Ffederal agencies to develop the Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) on Sustainable Forest Management Data to work together to
resolve data issues and produce the 2003 Report in collaboration with the
Roundtable and others.Ê He thanked MOU
signatories for their commitment, and recognized the State Department for its
support of the agreement.Ê Chief
Bosworth challenged the USDA Forest ServiceUSFS and participants to
engage in the Roundtable and help the government develop the 2003 Report,
resolve long-term technical
issues in
the process, and contribute to the preparations for the global
discussions in 2002.Ê He thanked the
Co-chairs of the Roundtable as well as others involved in the Roundtable for
their commitment in the past and to do the work ahead.
Following the Chief Bosworthâs remarks,
the Roundtable represented by its Co-chairs, recognized Paul Geissler, USGS, for the substantial
time and commitment he has devoted to the Roundtable process and its Technical
Work Group.Ê Susan Haseltine accepted
the award for Mr. Geissler.
Many participants were supportive of the Roundtable process
and recognized its role in making progress on potential appraoaches pl to measure ying the C&I on a
national level over the past few years.Ê The Roundtableâs collaborative, multi-party
approach based on sound science fostered by the Roundtable was seen as
important
to integrating all scales of application and to helping to einsureing that reporting on the
C&I will be more broadly accepted in the future.
A key focus of the discussion was on applying the C&I at
different scales.Ê As much of the work
to date has been on the national level, many in the group saw the next major
challenge to be determining how to apply the C&I at the state and local
levels.Ê At these scales, forest
fragmentation and the impact of land conversion were seen as important
issues.Ê Many participants felt it was
critical to do a better job involving the local community as well as private
landowners in land use decision making.Ê
Theodore Heintz, U.S. Department of the
Interior,
commented on the application of the C&I from the
standpoint of his involvement with the interagency group on Sustainable
Development Indicators (SDI) that has been working on developing a set of national indicators for sustainable development.Ê The website for the SDI is www.sdi.gov/. ÊThe interagency group is focusing on
how to make data from all resource areas and sectors of society relevant to
sustainable development, and in the process is learning how to organize the data to make it more relevant to measuring progress
towards the goal of sustainability. ÊHe noted that, while they are
organizing the data for management and public utility, the general public would benefit most from the data.Ê Organizing and making the data available for different levels of application is technologically challenging, but is not an insurmountable task.
Larry Kotchman, NASF and North Dakota State Forester, was supportive of the
Roundtable and the use of C&I to measure progress toward sustainable forests.Ê He observed that a lot of work had gone into applying the C&I at
the national level and saw applying them at the state and local levels as a substantial challenge.Ê To meet this challenge effectively, it is important to use a collaborative approach involving stakeholders from all
levels, including local communities. ÊIt is also essential to provide management and
assistance to develop
related state policies.
Wendy Hinrichs Sanders,
Great Lakes Forest Alliance, emphasized the importance of making the connection
between the national effort and other related activities at the regional, state, and local levels.Ê She recognized several critical areas needing work to help make that
connection, including
aggregation
of data gathered
on the local
and regional scale, and fragmentation.Ê The discussion on fragmentation and land
conversion should
involve private land ownerslandowners because of their connection to the land and the key role they play in
enabling change on-the-groundon the ground.Ê Also important on the regional level is coordinating data collection efforts for indicators involving socialologic,
ecological, and economic factors, and recognizing where
and how these indicators interrelate.
Keith Argow, National
Woodland Owners Association, observed that pPrivate
woodland owners produce 60 percent more than half of
Americaâs wood using practices that sustain the resource.Ê Recent changes in market demand, combined
with the pressures of sprawl and other factors related to population growth,
are threatening the long-term viability of the private woodland owner.Ê He cautioned against sustainable practices that
would result in restricting woodland harvest because woodland owners cannot sell their
product or
sustain their businesses if they are unable to harvest.Ê
Ê Diane Gelburd, Natural Resources Conservation ServiceNRCS, suggested iIncreasing
their involvement of private owners may
require targeted outreach through organizations likelike the National Association of
Conservation
Districts
and others, including t, the National Governors Association,
and Land Owners Associations.Ê Gerry Gray, American
Forests, speaking from the perspective of his involvement with the new Sustainable Community Indicator project, added that there is a desire at the
community level to achieve sustainability
but on the terms of local stakeholder.Ê At the
community level, the C&I are perceived as a data-driven A
potential deterrent to both local and regional participation is the perceived ãtop-downä
approach and it is
unclear how they are applicable at the local level.Ê Such issues of scale
are long-term, consequently iof the Roundtable.Ê It is therefore
important to be explicitclear
about how and why the
C&I and efforts like the Roundtable arecan be of
value to the
local and regional stakeholders Êö why is it worth their limited time and
resources - and whether and how their input will be utilized.Ê Many participants felt that what happens on
the local level will make the difference in our forests nationally.Ê
Phil Janik observed that, as the Roundtable worked with the
C&I, they had come to realize there was a landscape
issue.Ê
.????ÊÊ He acknowledged the challenge
of applying the C&I at different scales (e.g., national versus regional
or local)., particularly at smaller
scales, particularly ÊÊÊin ways that make a difference.Ê Mr. Janik highlighted the
formation of the NASF committee on sustainable forestry as well as Jerry Roseâs
assuming the Co-chairmanship of the Roundtable as progress towards addressing
some of the scale issues.Ê Jerry Rose
added that a potential resource to help address this issue might be the Pan
European process guidelines for use of the C&I at the management unit
level.
Ê
The group discussed the need to create linkages
between different, related efforts.Ê Robin OâMalley, The
Heinz Center, commented that iIn
addition to being aware of and learning from international activities like the
UNFF and the World Summit, it is also important to create linkages between the
different rRoundtables
on rangelands, minerals,
and water, to minimize the use of different indicators where appropriate, and
take advantage of information on similar data.Ê
Essential to creating linkages is developing a common framework and understanding
of the language and vocabulary, particularly when defining tough issues like
whether conditions observed through monitoring are ãsustainableä.Ê In the long-term, it may also be valuable to institutionalize a mechanism for reviewing and refining the reporting on the C&I from all agencies and organizations.Ê
On another level, participants noted the importance of
recognizing linkages between indicators, particularly the socioeconomic
indicators that are less well developed.Ê
Susan Haseltine, USGS, Many saw
a specific need to prioritize efforts on the less developed cCriterion 6 and& 7, and on
developing indicators that would integrate social, economic, and ecologic
considerations.Ê She One
individual suggested that it might ultimately be appropriate to
manage these and other similar efforts within a common framework.Ê Such linkages may also
help to address the need to coordinate and refine the various related efforts
over time.
Phil
Janik provided additional some
clarifying
information on the 2003 Report.Ê
He explained that, in addition to reporting on data, the report would
list the challenges to improving forest sustainability and how to address those
challenges and improve sustainability.Ê
The Rreport would not make a
statement on the Nationâs progress toward sustainability at this time, but
rather progress on activities that will help move the nationâs forests toward
sustainability.Ê Dave Radloff Radloff, USFS, added that
the USDA Forest ServiceUSFS is working on engaging
stakeholders in the process of developing the 2003 Report through a variety of efforts
including web-based input and two Review Workshops, one in the eEastern and another in the Wwestern part of the U..S.., planned
for the spring of 2002 to solicit input on the preliminary draft of the 2003
Report.Ê The USDA Forest ServiceUSFS plans to hopes engageing a broad group of
stakeholders early on in the process of producing the rReport to will help increase the utility of the rReport.Ê
Participants commented on the audience for the 2003 Report and aspects of
its utility.Ê From a local and regional
perspective, participants wanted to einsure that the rReport would make a difference on- the- ground
and address issues, such as fragmentation, which were of concern to them.Ê
Michael
Washburn, Co-chair of the COWGCommunications and Outreach Work Group,
emphasized that a key part of the rationale for planning two Review Workshops (in the Eeastern and and Wwestern) parts of the country
was to hear more from the local and regional perspectives to help make the rReport more useful
at those scales.Ê In a similar vein, David Ford, Certified
Forest Products Council,one suggested individual commented that
the rReport
should
be in a format that would be useful to businesses and other
institutions whose actions have an impact on forests, not just those in the
policy arena.Ê At the same time, Dick Munson,
Northeast-Midwest Institute, felt it was also suggested that
the rReport
should also be written
in language understandable to policy makers who would reference the rReport in policy
making, such as the Farm Bill.Ê Phil
Janik commented that determining the audience for the report was a concern and
a challenge.Ê While there is a
recognized need to try and reach those interested in sustainability, the
broader public, and retailers, it is most likely that the Report report will be targeted to
those who will benefit from the knowledge at this time.Ê Additional outreach will be achieved through
the educational process.Ê
To help increase the utility of the rReport, Lars Laestadieus, World Resources Instituteone,
participant suggested using maps as a tool to present information
in an understandable way.Ê Highlighting
innovative approaches to address difficult problems and presenting case studies
would also enhance the rReport.Ê Fred Kaeiser, USDA Forest ServiceUSFS Lead on producing the
2003 Report, indicated that the USDA Forest ServiceUSFS intends to use maps in
the reporting process and, with the exception of private data sources, the data, and data coordinates
would be available via the web.Ê Further,
the public will be able to access and view the data at the national, regional, and local different scalescales ö national, regional and local.Ê Mr. Mealey added that other examples
of forest management, many of which may be at the local and regional scale,
would be presented and discussed at the Review Workshops as part of the draft
2003 Report.Ê He also observed that, because there
is no predictive model on sustainable forestsry Ê(a fact that should be noted in the 2003 Report),
it is difficult to talk about what sustainable forestry is.Ê In the absence of a model, it is harder to
evaluate the Criteria, particularly Criteria 6 & 7, for which
there is less information.
Bruce Cabarle, WWF-US, was struck by the spontaneity and frankness of the discussion and
viewed it as a tribute to the Roundtable process.Ê He
echoed the need to clarify
the relationship between different levels of activity, particularly at the community level.Ê It is also necessary to better define
opportunities for community input into the C&I and reporting
process and
to evaluate
and address the perception of the C&I as a ãtop-downä approach.Ê Mr.
Carbale One participant commented
on the USFSâ plans for holding the Review Workshops in the eastern and western
U.S.Ê He referenced
the outreach process utilized for the 7th American Forest Congress
as a potential resource to help identify local leaders and/or use as a model to
increase the level of their involvement in the 2003 Report processprocess.Ê In regard to the contents of the 2003 Report, Mr.
Carbale supported presenting innovative approaches to difficult problems and characterizing where we have made advancements and what we have
learned by addressing these
challenges. ÊIn addition, he encouraged using case studies to highlight non-traditional
approaches and
identifying key issues to address
in the future
in the rReport.
John Heissenbuttel, AF&PA, stated that his silence in the meeting up to this
point was not intended to indicate a lack of support for the Roundtable.Ê Rather, he expressed support for the
Roundtable on behalf of AF&PA and was pleased to hear the degree of support
and encouragement
regarding the Roundtable and C&I implementation from others at the meeting.
Ê [The facilitator notes
that the amount of time necessary to organize and facilitate a process like 7th
American Forest Congress is substantial.Ê
For this and other factors, the model may not suit the needs of the
Report review and input process.] SW ö I know Tim made this comment to us but it seems
really out of place in the summary.
Ê
Closing Remarks
Jerry Rose thanked everyone for taking valuable time to
participate in the meeting.Ê He observed
that while international efforts on the C&I are important, what happens on
the ground and in the marketplace is ultimately what counts.Ê
Mr. Rose quoted passages from John Fedkiwâs paper entitled ãPathwayâs Hypothesisä andÊ He emphasized the concept that
sustainability is not achieved in a single step but by many steps over
time.Ê
Phil Janik agreed and reiterated ãsustainability is a
journey, not a destination.äÊ He noted
that through this process he learned that the Roundtable and the 2003 Report
represent only one of many contributions to the subject of sustainability
nationwide.Ê Mr. Janik also thanked
participants for their guidance and contributions at the meeting and invited
them to help the Roundtable place sustainability and the C&I in the proper
context.Ê He reiterated the USDA Forest ServiceUSFSâs commitment to
work on improving the condition of forests through the Roundtable and other
venues.
The following attachments to this
meeting summary are available on the Roundtableâs website at www.sustainableforests.net.
Attachment
A: Meeting Agenda (PDF)
Attachment BA: Ê Lists of Meeting Invited Attendees and Observers (PDF)
Attachment CB: Roundtable Orientation Slide Show (PDF)
Attachment DC: Table 1 on
Structure of UNFF Sessions (PDF)
ÊRoundtable
on Sustainable Forests
Attachment E: Meeting Agenda
Attachment F:
Roundtable Poster
Another
attachement is the Roundtable Poster÷You may or may not want to mention it. We
can not convert it from MSPagemaker into a PDF file due to problems with the graphics and we have
already wasted hours trying with our tech people so I hesitate to list it since
we canât post it.Ê K
(PDF)