EVENTS / CRISIS OR OPPORTUNITY? - JUNE 23-25, 2008
On June 23-25, 2008 the GLFA convened Crisis or Opportunity? Sustaining and Strengthening Forest-Based Industries in the Great Lakes Region in Madison, Wisconsin.
The conference was held in order to raise awareness and identify actions to enhance forest-based industries and the role they play in sustaining the region’s economy, environment, and quality of life.
The conference drew over 200 people from across the region and beyond representing forest product businesses, policy leaders, trade associations, foresters, universities, counties, tribes, landowners and environmental organizations, as well as local, state, federal and provincial governments.
Three keynote presentations, four general sessions and a panel discussion highlighted pressing issues and opportunities facing forests and forest industries including market trends, forestland ownership, investment dynamics and emerging markets. There were over 20 speakers at the event including leading practitioners, researchers and policymakers from the public, private and non-profit sectors.
Speaker bios & scripts | Links to presentations | Conference Supporters
CONFERENCE OBJECTIVES
- Raise awareness about trends in forestland ownership, tenure and land use, industry markets and investment, and opportunities and barriers to global competition.
- Examine the value of state and provincial government initiatives aimed at strengthening the vibrancy of industry and the ecological health of forests.
- Explore the role of conservation easements and other innovations in land transactions to sustain the region's forest resource base.
- Highlight the opportunities and challenges of emerging markets for carbon, bioenergy, ecosystem services and green building.
- Identify gaps and opportunities for collaboration that will inform the development of a regional strategic action agenda.Identified Issues & Actions
Small group discussions were an important element of the Crisis or Opportunity conference. During the breakout session, each group identified potential strategies and actions to address the issues presented at the conference and then ranked the solutions based on priority.
Analysis of the breakout session results revealed numerous issues and actions. Based on the frequency with which they were mentioned in the documented comments and the priority that groups placed on them, the following top issues and actions facing the region were identified.
Top Issues:
- bioenergy and biomass
- carbon
- ecosystem services
- forest certification
- green building
- market development
- transportation infrastructure
- working forests
Top Actions:
- support public relations and education campaigns
- advocate for policy change
- support needed research
- expand partnerships
- promote regional collaboration
Click here for the actions and rankings from the breakout sessions.
Emerging Themes
Following the conference, a survey was distributed to conference attendees along with the top issues and actions and the raw comments from the breakout session. The survey was structured in order to help the GLFA hone in on specific initiatives for the region and identify potential collaborators for work in the future.
Survey Summary (Table) | Open-Ended Question Responses
Based on the results of the survey, the GLFA identified several emerging themes. The themes reflect varying roles of the GLFA and issues facing the region.
THEMES
Green building and forest certification: Develop a strategy to engage the forestry community in the green building movement and associated certification systems.
Ecosystem services and emerging markets: Support the development and implementation of new markets for carbon, bioenergy and other products of the bioeconomy, and ecosystem services.
Forest management capacity: Develop a toolbox to assist landowners and managers with integrating present and future markets, including transportation, infrastructure, and industry capacity issues.
Regional research collaboratives: Enhance collaboration among research institutes. Communicate and support research to more fully understand issues and opportunities facing the Great Lakes region.
Ecological integrity: Encourage the development of policies, research and educational information that support the ecological sustainability of forests and promotes understanding, mitigation and adaptation to climate change.
Next Steps
As a result of the Crisis or Opportunity conference, the GLFA is poised to advance initiatives that support forestry as a leader of the green economy - an economy that supports sustainable families, communities, industries, and ecosystems. We believe the GLFA can play a regional role in promoting and supporting this leadership.
Some of the lessons learned as a result of this process that is informing this work include:
1. Forests offer the opportunity for leading a green economy that supports sustainable living, including sustainable families, communities, industries, and ecosystems.
2. The green economy can be an organizing framework and help to merge the issues of bioeconomy, forest health, industry sustainability, environmental sustainability, and green building.
3. Expansion of partnerships with non-traditional groups is necessary to pursue long term solutions.
4. There are opportunities to support emerging markets for carbon, ecosystem services, green building, bioenergy, and adaptations of the existing forest products industries to these new markets.
5. Building a broad community of interests who care about forests and the values and products that those forests supply is crucial to the long term sustainability of the region's environment, economy, and quality of life.
PARTICIPANT QUOTES
"Perhaps one of the highest quality conferences I've attended. Extremely well orchestrated, facility added much to the professionalism of the event, and excellent attendance. Very good attendance from wood industry."
"Great conference, lots of bright folks, inspiring conversations." "Wide variety of topics and viewpoints. I liked the sessions that will help us move into the future needs, trends, and solutions (or at least possible solutions)."
"Thank you for an excellent conference - the flow was excellent and time was well used."
"Keynote speakers in evenings were provocative & thoughtful. Excellent presenters. I learned a great deal. Excellent selection of topics, new up-to-date issues with knowledgeable speakers."
"I found it to be a very valuable event, and plan on attending future events and recommending it to others."
Media
Article in Wood Digest [PDF; 1MB]
Carbon Policy Statement [PDF; 73KB]
Carbon Policy Press Release [PDF; 46KB]