Get Ready SFI is coming in a Big Way!

The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) is coming to a market near you. SFI is a non-profit third party independent sustainable forestry certification organization dedicated to certifying sustainable forestry practices in North America.

These folks have been in existence since 1995 and until now have been quietly working to protect N. American forests. They currently have 130 million acres certified as part of their program. A growing number of supply chain participants across the continent of which The Paper Mill Store is working towards joining with a hopeful certification date of the end of this month December 2007 is making it easier to purchase and specify SFI paper and envelopes.

SFI has committed to a multi million dollar advertising campaign targeting the major cities of N. America. Over this past Thanksgiving holiday week I found myself on a plane headed towards New York City, reading the NYT. I saw a large ad touting SFI. Upon landing and walking around Manhattan I saw numerous bus stop and telephone booth signage advertising SFI. SFI has been a sleeping giant and according to their President & C.E.O. Kathy Abusow those days are over. Kathy reported to me that SFI intends to get their message out to the marketplace and help to build demand for SFI certified wood products. This is the only forest certification program targeted at the specific needs and circumstances of N. America's forest which are largely made up of patchworks of privately owned land.

Keep your eyes and ears open as you are going to hear a lot more about this important organization.

Finch Paper sells 161,000 acres in Adirondack Park

Largest Private Land Holdings in the Adirondacks

Yesterday Finch Paper announced that they sold 161,000 acres of forest land to the Nature Conservancy for $110 million. Finch Paper has been a solid steward of this property for more than 100 years when the company Finch Holding first began accumulating Adirondack land for timber harvesting.

In what has been described as the largest private land holding in the Adirondack Park is now in the hands of the Nature Conservancy for the rest of time. This parcel is a beautiful forest and is filled with hills, streams and gorges. This is prime Adirondack forest and the purchase by the Nature Conservancy will protect this parcel from future development.

This sale comes just a matter of weeks after the family owned Finch Paper was sold to a private equity group. The stated intention of the new owners of Finch Paper is to maintain paper production at its Glenn Falls, NY paper mill. It is not uncommon for paper companies to sell off timber lands and this sale of the 161,00 acres would be consistent with this recent industry trend.