TUESDAY, MAY 20

AFTERNOON

SFI Implementation Committee General Session

Open to SIC members and partners. SFI responds to local needs through SFI Implementation Committees (SICs) at the state, provincial, and regional levels. The SIC General Session offers a forum for SIC members to share ideas and best practices about community outreach through social media, logger training, and partnering with local businesses and community leaders.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 21

MORNING

TRADITIONAL WELCOME AND OPENING

Sustainability requires innovative solutions to local, national, and global environmental challenges—solutions strengthened through forest-focused collaboration. Join us for a traditional welcome and opening remarks to kick off the 2025 SFI Annual Conference and set the stage for this year’s theme, “Innovating for Forests and Communities”.

SFI @ 30 YEARS: CELEBRATING PROGRESS, LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

SFI is celebrating 30 years since its founding, marking three decades of achievements that will propel us into a new era of innovation and engagement. Hear from forest sector leaders, including past and current SFI Board members, who helped lay the foundation and are building the future of sustainable forestry.

AFTERNOON

THE ROLE OF MARKETS IN PROMOTING RESPONSIBLE FORESTRY AND SOURCING

SFI is increasingly recognized for providing supply chain assurances. 93% of consumers who have heard of SFI trust SFI, and 80% of SFI-certified organizations reported steady or increased demand for SFI-certified products in 2024. This session will feature insights into forest sector markets and how market leaders evaluate sustainable forestry.

SOLUTIONS TO DEFORESTATION AND FOREST DEGRADATION

The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) and other public and private initiatives are focused on avoiding deforestation and forest degradation. Learn about implementation efforts to comply with policy requirements and recent case studies that analyze compliance in supply chains in the U.S. South.

PARTNERSHIPS TO GROW FOREST LITERACY

Building a generation of leaders who will take responsibility for solving environmental challenges and market needs is one of the best investments a society can make. Explore how Project Learning Tree (PLT) and forest sector organizations can collaborate to increase forest literacy in K-12 education and knowledge about sustainably managed forests.

EVENING

OPENING NETWORK RECEPTION

THURSDAY, MAY 22

MORNING

FUN RUN/WALK

FOREST PRODUCTS INNOVATION TO ADVANCE SUSTAINABILITY

FUTURE FOREST WORKFORCE NEEDS AND OPPORTUNITIES

AFTERNOON

WOMEN’S FOREST CONGRESS LUNCH MEET UP

THE PATHWAY TO URBAN FOREST SUSTAINABILITY

CLIMATE SMART FORESTRY: LESSONS LEARNED AND CREATIVE APPROACHES

MAGNIFICENT MAPS: HOW SPATIAL DATA AND TECHNOLOGY ARE TRANSFORMING FOREST CONSERVATION

Spatial data and innovative technologies to access and use offer increasingly important roles in informing sustainable forest management and advancing conservation outcomes. This session will explore multiple spatial datasets relevant to North American forests, highlighting how these tools can be used for forest management, conservation stewardship, and ecosystem resilience across scales.

CLOSING REMARKS

EVENING

OFFSITE RECEPTION

FRIDAY, MAY 23

MORNING

SFI CONSERVATION IMPACT WORKSHOP

As our forests face growing challenges for resilience, effective stewardship requires innovative management practices, sound data, and strong partnerships. Through technical dialogue with field experts and SFI-certified organizations, this year’s SFI Conservation Impact Workshop will explore practical climate-related interventions and available resources for responsible forest management. The event is organized by the Conservation Pillar at SFI, whose focus is on advancing conservation outcomes of the SFI standards. We welcome participation by various natural resource and conservation professionals interested in forests, climate, certification, and conservation.