NEWS RELEASES

Three leaders have been elected to the independent SFI Board of Directors, to fill positions in each of its three chambers, Environmental, Social and Economic. “SFI will benefit enormously from the wisdom, perspective and passion these leaders bring to our Board of Directors,” SFI President and CEO Kathy Abusow said. “By representing broad-ranging and balanced stakeholder interests, Bob Matters, Jonathan Haufler, and Jim Hannan will help continue the momentum SFI has built to ensure healthy, thriving forests for generations to come.”

With the support of the SFI Forest Partners Program, 103,000 acres of land owned by the South Carolina Forestry Commission and Clemson University were recently certified to the SFI and American Tree Farm System standards.

Wegner’s many contributions have been instrumental in raising awareness of the benefits associated with utilizing forest certification.

Honey bees are in sharp decline in North America and Europe, jeopardizing their crucial role in pollinating crops that in the United States amount to about one-third of the nation’s domestic food supply.

From enjoying a walk in the woods to building a home to the clean water and the paper products we use every day, people benefit from forests in countless ways.

SFI announced today that respected conservation professional Paul Trianosky has joined SFI as Senior Director of Conservation Partnerships.  Trianosky brings nearly 30 years of diverse leadership experience in forest conservation, nonprofit management and forest certification to SFI. In 2013, he was recognized as a “Conservation Hero” by The Nature Conservancy of West Virginia and he has served as a gubernatorial appointee to the Tennessee Forestry Commission since 2004. He most recently worked at the American Forest Foundation, where he served as Director of Southern Forest Conservation. In that role, he developed and implemented strategies to engage family landowners in AFF’s programs and services across the southern region. 

Experts acknowledge the important role of forestlands in protecting our nation’s water quality. The U.S. Forest Service estimates that about two-thirds of our nation’s freshwater resources originate in forests. Water utilities are increasingly taking responsibility for the health of local watersheds as the best way to ensure a long-term supply of clean water for the community. A new project managed by the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities (the Endowment), and supported by a grant from the Sustainable Forestry Initiative® (SFI®), will engage forest landowners and water utilities to support innovative ways to promote watershed protection and maintenance on privately owned forest lands. 

SFI has awarded grants to seven community-based projects to educate youth and teachers, work with landowners, and support worthy community programs. 

SFI is proud to supply a variety of unique certified wood products for use at the Scouts Canada Canadian Scout Jamboree 2013.

SFI and Habitat for Humanity National Capital Region have joined forces for the first-­of-­its-­kind “Women in Wood” Build Day.

SFI today reported significant growth across key performance indicators with the release of Writing the Next Chapter, SFI’s 2013 Annual Progress Report.

SFI announced today that it has awarded the National Audubon Society $60,000 under the SFI Conservation and Community Partnership Grant Program.

SFI launched the process of revising its current standard to develop the SFI 2015-­‐2019 Standard.

The June issue of Architectural Record includes a Continuing Education Unit (CEU) describing the benefits of using responsibly managed forest products certified to the SFI Standard. 

Mark Rodgers, COO of Habitat for Humanity Canada, has been elected to the independent SFI Board of Directors.