ESFPA E-News

ESFPA Compiles List of Products Made or Derived from Wood

ESFPA has assembled a thorough list of products made or derived from wood. The list is extensive and can be found here on our website. If you have any additional information to be added, please contact us at gabriella@esfpa.org. 

In addition to the full list, we have also extrapolated two shorter lists: top 10 commonly used wood products and top 10 most surprising wood products.

Top 10 Commonly Used Wood Products:

1. Lumber used in construction (buildings and furniture)
2. Paper (office, newsprint, magazines)
3. Hygiene products
4. Industrial roundwood
5. Sawnwood
6. Wood fuel (pellets and cordwood)  
7. Insulation
8. Cork
9. Charcoal
10. Musical instruments

Top 10 Most Surprising Wood Products:

1. Rubber
2. Food Thickener (ice cream, ketchup, mayonnaise, shredded cheese, etc.)

3. Textiles (Rayon, Tencel™)

4. Soap/shampoo

5. Toothpaste 

6. Glue 

7. Cosmetics (hairspray, nail polish, lipstick, etc.)

8. Chewing gum

9. Cleaning compounds

10. Wax 

ESFPA Starts Future Leaders Program

The Empire State Forest Products Association (ESFPA) Board of Directors has for years been discussing the need to provide opportunities to attract and train future leaders in the forest management and wood products manufacturing sector. To that end, they believe that it is incumbent upon existing industry leaders to take on the responsibility to make the next generation of leaders.

This fall we are kicking off our first Future Leaders program, a year-long partnership with a mentor and specific experiences, lessons, training, and opportunities to build leadership skills. We are also partnering with Farm Credit East in providing this opportunity. The objective of the Future Leaders program is to expose professionals in our sector to ESFPA's vision and function and a wide range of career development fundamentals.

Selected candidates will have the opportunity to learn skills that will help them participate and communicate with peers and superiors, ESFPA members, and New York policy makers including state representatives and New York State agency staff. Participation in the program will also foster future career growth and development, increasing the likelihood that they will remain in New York and continue contributing to the advancement of the industry as well as remaining active supporters of the ESFPA. We believe that everyone has the potential to be a leader. Whether you have a formal leadership title, are leading projects and initiatives, or are a rising emerging leader. These workshops are directly applicable to inspire the way you lead your work and interact with peers, colleagues, and clients.

We are looking for 4-6 candidates for this initial round of Future Leaders and encourage you to apply. If you are interested, click the link below to view the full curriculum and application.

Logging's Ongoing Public Relations Battle

by Bob Williams, Forester and President of Pine Creek Forestry L.L.C.

Most forest landowners understand the critical role logging plays in the long-term ownership and conservation of their forest resources, both from an ecological and economic perspective.

The Britannica definition of logging is “the process of harvesting trees, sawing them into appropriate lengths and transporting them to a sawmill.” Of course, there is some variation. Yet both media and extremist environmentalists have successfully redefined logging in the public’s minds as the wanton destruction of forests. Over the last forty years, logging, which is a component of some forestry practices, has been used to demonize our management and use of forest natural resources.

Any reference to logging in the mainstream media usually has a negative connotation. It’s as if there’s some other, more environmentally-friendly way to harvest trees. Just as people don’t like to think of how their animal food is harvested, they apparently don’t want to recognize how trees become lumber.

With the recent passage of the national infrastructure bill, many needed billions of dollars will be dedicated to funding needed forest restoration of our national forests. Already there are efforts in Congress to stop the utilization of this funding to save our national forests from “logging” in the name of fuel reduction, forest restoration, and wildfire prevention.

Full disclosure: I am a forester and over my long career have made decisions to log millions of trees on tens of thousands of acres of forest land across North America. I am proud of the work loggers did on these projects and today, beautiful forests cover all of those lands.

Today, there are significant forest practice standards that ensure logging is done correctly. Yet logging is the primary tool used by extremists to limit, obstruct or prohibit tree harvesting anywhere for any reason. They use the word logging like a battle ax to demean, criticize, or ridicule any forest management activity that involves tree cutting.

Their hypocrisy is staggering. They refuse to speak of the essential use of wood fiber by every single human being on this planet every single day. We humans are a forest-dependent species, no different than a wood thrush songbird or a grey squirrel. We need forests to survive and sustain our high quality of life for us and generations to come.

The political/social climate of forestry today does not support the management of our forest resources on any level whether public or private.

The latest battle cry to save forests from “logging” is the climate crisis. Most extremists now view the climate issue as the silver bullet they have long tried to manufacture, to prohibit or obstruct the cutting of any tree for any reason.

Most people agree that the world’s forests are critical to sustaining our climate. Trees play a critical role in extracting and storing carbon stocks. Yet when they scream to protect the trees, their hypocrisy grows even louder.

If one understands that wood fiber resources are essential to sustaining our everyday quality of life, how can the extremists be credible if they refuse to address or even mention how and where that wood fiber can or should come from? It is a level of hypocrisy not seen before and simply irresponsible. They all depend on wood every day of their lives yet oppose the sustainable use of wood.

Forest landowners need to pay attention to any proposed climate policy that will impact forest use. People in the forestry world need to participate as these policies evolve. We need to help the public understand that they need to support a balanced approach that provides for the critically needed goods and services that our forests provide. Locking forests down is a policy that is both irresponsible and will result in severe negative social and environmental impacts.

The utilization of wood fiber has always and will continue to play a critical role in sustaining both a healthy climate and a healthy economy. This is just a fact that their hypocrisy will one day have to confront.

Federal Policy on Old Growth and Mature Forests

On April 22, 2022, the Biden Administration released Executive Order 14072: “Strengthening the Nation’s Forests, Communities and Local Economies.”  The Order requires the U.S. Forest Service to, among other things, define old-growth and mature forests on federal lands.  On July 14, 2022, the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and the Interior jointly published a Federal Register notice seeking public comment and input on the development of a definition for old-growth and mature forests on Federal land, specifically requesting input on the following questions:  

• What criteria are needed for a universal definition framework that motivates mature and old-growth forest conservation and can be used for planning and adaptive management? 
• What are the overarching old-growth and mature forest characteristics that belong in a definition framework? 
• How can a definition reflect changes based on disturbance and variation in forest type/composition, climate, site productivity, and geographic region? 
• How can a definition be durable but also accommodate and reflect changes in climate and forest composition? 
• What, if any, forest characteristics should a definition exclude? 

Even though the Executive Order focuses on federal forest lands, this will be precedent-setting for defining old growth and mature forests.  As such, ESFPA will be signing onto comments being drafted by the Hardwood Federation and the National Alliance of Forestry Organizations. As we go to print we are reviewing draft comments to be submitted on August 30th.