Finch Paper forest sale

As is well known by now, and written about here, Finch Paper recently sold an amazing piece of property located in the Adirondack Park in upper New York state. The sale of what was previously the largest piece of privately owned property by Finch to the Nature Conservancy will result in the preservation of this 161,000 acre property.

I have just returned from a visit to the Adirondacks last week. During my visit to New York state I dropped in to see our friends at Finch Paper and to touch base on the progress of the land sale. Such a huge sale, valued at $110 million, requires creative thinking to make the numbers come together. The Nature Conservancy is resourceful and has access to large sums of money. Even for this great organization the price tag and the 6 weeks it took to put this together is an amazing feat of creative thinking.

One important part of this sale is that Finch Paper will retain logging rights to the property and help the Nature Conservancy support this land with fees it will pay for the lumber harvested from the property. The forest will remain a Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified forest and provide generations of responsibly managed timber for paper making.

FSC protects & perserves forests

Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) helps makes forestry profitable and sustainable. Through its forest certification process and the subsequent consumer support of FSC certified wood products, well run and sustainable forest are profitable. Profitable forests remain as forest land and avoid the all too common occurrence where forest land becomes more valuable as developed land and is sold to developers by its owners. When you support FSC wood products, specifically paper, you are supporting the existence of well managed forests and you are helping to keep forests as forests. Your buying decisions make a difference.

Some groups have fought to stop forestry on some privately owned lands. When these groups are successful the land lays fallow and becomes unprofitable. This can lead to lands being sold for development or uses other than forestry.

The sale of Finch Paper's Adirondack forests is a rare exception where the land is sold by the forester and is purchased by a responsible steward of the forest. As reported in my last post Finch Paper sold its 161,000 acres of prime Adirondacks forest land to the Nature Conservancy. I believe Finch's property was a well run, FSC forest, which was put on the market to raise cash for the new owners of Finch Paper and reduce the debt they incurred buying the company.

What would have happened if the Nature Conservancy did not find the funding for the $110 million price tag? Can you imagine the feeding frenzy, that this last and largest private parcel of Adirondack land, would have sparked from a variety of private interests looking to monetize this property.

The issue of forestry and environmental stewardship is complicated. The Forest Stewardship Council has created a scenario where being responsible is not just the "right thing to do" but it is also the profitable thing to do. FSC products preserve forests and help to stem development.

Here is an intersting article to further decribe this issue.