Celebrate National Forest Products Week 

By Clark Seely, CF, SAF President

October 16-23 is National Forest Products week. This annual event gives us a moment to stop and learn about new innovations and reflect on what the strongest forest research and development program in the world has delivered not only in the last year but the last one hundred years. Our forests are thriving because the more wood we use, the more trees we grow.  In 2012, forest land comprised 766 million acres, about the size of Texas, California, Montana, New Mexico and Florida combined.  In fact, the US has more acres of forest now than in 1910, although the population has more than tripled since then. These forests supply many important environmental benefits for free and also provide Florida residents with over 80,000 jobs and $16.3 billion dollars in economic activity statewide.

After a career as a forester and now the President of the Society of American Foresters, my life’s work has been dedicated to managing our nations’ greatest renewable resource, but more importantly, lauding the many environmental, social, and economic benefits that forests provide to the citizens of our nation.  

I spent the bulk of my career in Oregon, but I have been fortunate to call Florida my home for the past four years.  The work going on in the dynamic forests in Florida and the southern United States is inspiring. The forest industry in the state is at the forefront of innovation in forest products. Companies like Rayonier, Weyerhaeuser, and many others are not only economic drivers in the state, they along with the Florida Forest Service, university faculty and researchers in the state’s colleges and universities, and the US Forest Service are key contributors to the clean water and air, wildlife habitat, and recreation opportunities we all enjoy.  

Our nation’s forests are integral to our health and happiness. Whether you live in downtown Jacksonville or in Olustree, forests help to sustain all of us. The best news is that we have only scratched the surface with the progress made and the potential that wood products have to offer. Advancements in engineering and biotechnology are taking us where we’ve never been before, and continually proving the sustainability and utility of using forest products not only for building but as an alternative to plastics, as a renewable energy source, and many other new uses discovered every day.

I think forests are a sound investment, and I encourage you to join me, the 12,000 members of the Society of American Foresters, and natural resource professionals across the country in recognizing the many benefits that forests provide to us.