Facing the future:
sustainability through continuous improvement
Remarks by President John W. Creighton, Jr.
To: Second Global Conference on Paper and the
Environment
Frankfurt
26 April 1994
Good Morning. It's a pleasure to be in
Frankfurt to discuss the future of this industry.
Coincidentally, Weyerhaeuser's roots are here in
Germany. Frederick Weyerhaeuser, our founder, was
born 160 years ago in Niedersaulheim. When he
came to the United States as a young man, he
brought with him the hallmarks of his culture:
integrity, optimism, hard work and a sense of
responsibility. Those traits helped him start a
company that has become the world's largest
producer of market pulp and softwood lumber. If
you include both our U.S. lands and our long-term
leaseholdings in Canada, Weyerhaeuser is
responsible for forestlands that are together
almost the size of Australia.
During the past century, my company has
contributed to our industry's success in meeting
the global demand for wood and paper products.
We've done that by providing a sustainable supply
of wood from increasingly productive forests. As
we approach the 21st century, we face the
challenge of reducing our environmental impact
and maintaining healthy, diverse forest
ecosystems.
We're ready for that challenge. Like cost
reduction and quality improvement, improved
environmental performance is a critical element
of superior manufacturing. It requires our every
resource, including new technology, meaningful
measurements and Total Quality management. But it
involves more than the technology of growing
trees. We must also manage forests for their
spiritual, aesthetic and cultural values-as well
as ecological and economic values.
This is especially true since what's right for
on forest may not be right for all. The world's
forests each feature very different geographies,
climates, ages, species mixes and potential uses.
For instance, one forest classification system
divides Canada into 90 distinct forest types in a
dozen ecozones. So no single management practice
could possibly fit every situation. What's needed
is a balance of forest uses and management
techniques.
I believe that young forests-like those owned
by Weyerhaeuser-can be managed with emphasis on
sustainable wood production while remaining
sensitive to other forest values. High
productivity from such forests helps relieve the
pressure on other forestlands, which can then
emphasize values like wilderness, old-growth
reserves and recreation. The exact balance will
vary from forest to forest but, in total, will
create productive, sustainable forests that
together serve a variety of ecological, social
and economic needs.
I believe those healthy, sustainable forests
can be attained through three critical steps:
1. Defining a clear vision and values for
the future. Achieving healthy, sustainable
forests requires a clear view of what that really
means. Weyerhaeuser's vision is clarified by a
set of environmental values, which I'll tell you
more about shortly.
2. Identifying and taking concrete steps
toward our vision. We can make our vision a
reality through continuous improvement that
considers whole ecosystems and diverse
perspectives. Success won't come quickly or
easily, but we are making measurable progress
with meaningful intermediate steps.
3. Tracking and communicating our progress. Increasingly,
our success depends both on making measurable
environmental progress and on demonstrating and
sharing that progress.
I'd like to discuss each of these three steps,
with some examples that indicate how Weyerhaeuser
has already begun.
We must know where we are going. Since our
journey impacts the forest resources of future
generations, long-term perspectives is important.
Fortunately, people in the forest products
industry are used to thinking in 50-and 100-year
increments fitting the life cycles of trees. We
are one of the few industries experienced with
truly long-term planning. And Weyerhaeuser
already has a template for defining that
environmentally sound future: minimum-impact
manufacturing. That approach begins with a broad
perspective that uses careful planning, tracking
and continuous improvement to direct change
throughout our operations.
From that perspective, what does our vision of
"healthy, sustainable forests" mean? At
Weyerhaeuser, its meaning is created by our
stewardship values. We've committed to managing
our forest for wood production, and also to
protecting or enhancing:
- soil productivity.
- water quality.
- fish and wildlife habitat.
- biologically or culturally unique areas,
and
- plant and animal species diversity.
I could discuss each at length, but for now
I'll just talk about one. Our commitment to fish
habitat means:
- creating buffers along rivers and
wetlands;
- leaving downed trees in the water to
create riffles, pools and hiding places;
- maintaining the light and temperature
levels fish-and their food
sources-prefer;
- preventing siltation through better road
building and maintenance; and
- taking part in cooperative research and
policy making to improve our
understanding of fish habitats and human
impacts upon it.
In addition, though we manage our company's
private forestlands to produce wood, our vision
for sustainable forestry also says that we
cooperate with public agencies and resource
groups to help them manage public forestlands for
other purposes. Those may include wilderness,
old-growth reserves, protection of threatened or
endangered species, or other forest values.
One example is my company's participation in
Canada's model forest program. Diverse partners
have united to ensure sustainable ecological,
social and economic benefits from 10 model
forests across the country. The Prince Albert
model forest in Saskatchewan, for example, is
315,000 hectares jointly managed by
representatives of:
- several First Nations,
- provincial and national government,
- the Canadian Institute of Forestry, as
well as
- Weyerhaeuser Canada.
This cooperative project is helping us all
learn more about maintaining healthy forest
ecosystems that can deliver a variety of
sustainable benefits.
Other forest users are also key to another
Weyerhaeuser value: our pledge to actively listen
and respond to public expectations and to
communicate consistently. That's important,
because both our vision and how we achieve it
must withstand scrutiny from the various
perspectives of our:
- scientists,
- shareholders,
- customers,
- communities, and
- critics.
These diverse audiences force us to ask
continuously, "Are we doing enough?"
That's why our values include continuously
improving the environmental quality and economic
value of our forests. Both contribute to the
environmentally sound vision and values I just
described.
Having a vision and values is not enough,
however. We must have action.
Before discussing what that means for
forestry, let me give an example from our pulp
mills that may be familiar. Weyerhaeuser's vision
for minimum-impact manufacturing includes
eliminating effluents. We've mapped a path for
achieving that, but we can't get there all at
once. Intermediate steps require reducing the
toxicity of our current effluents. This,
elemental chlorine-free pulp bleaching, or ECF,
moves us in the right direction because it
reduces the formation of toxic chlorinated
organics. Totally chlorine-free bleaching, or
TFC, is another stepping stone. Neither ECF nor
TCF is the goal itself. Our vision guides us in
identifying and choosing between these
intermediates steps.
For forestry, identifying intermediate steps
depends on finding or developing ways to measure
our progress. Such measurements help determine
whether we are, in fact, moving toward our goals.
They also provide needed ecological and economic
criteria for assessing our options.
Over the years we've developed good
measurement criteria for the growth rates and
biological needs of our trees. We also have many
solid measures of forest soil, water flows, fish
habitat and wildlife. We've only just begun
collecting data on bio-diversity, aesthetics, or
cumulative human impact on a forest ecosystem.
Over time, that emerging knowledge will both
direct our actions and help quantify improvement.
Today, however, those critical measurements and
guidelines are still a challenge for some issues.
Take clearcutting, for example.
"Clearcutting" is the common name for
even-aged management-removing most or all of the
trees in an area to make full use of their wood
and to prepare the site for replanting. Changes
in Weyerhaeuser harvest planning in recent years
have generally resulted in:
- reduced clearcut size,
- boundaries matched to the landscape,
- greater consideration of adjacent areas,
- decreased erosion, and
- wider buffers for waterways and public
roads.
So our clearcutting practices are already
being modified to respond to today's ecological
understanding.
Before we can determine how clearcutting will
evolve in the future, we must fully consider the
ecological and economic--as well as
aesthetic--tradeoffs.We use even-aged management
for sound silvicultural and practical reasons.
Some tree species just can't grow to their full
potential in less than the full sunlight that
follows a clearcut harvest or a wildfire.
Or a volcanic explosion like the one that
occurred at Mount St. Helens in Washington state
in 1980. Sixty thousand hectares of forestland
were flattened, scorched and covered with ash.
The destruction far outweighed the impact of even
the largest clearcuts, and some experts predicted
that the area would take decades, even centuries
to recover.
Today, after less than 15 years, trees we
planted on Weyerhaeuser land after the eruption
stand 10 meters high. Elk have returned by the
hundreds. Salmon reproduction rates equal or
surpass those on adjoining property. Where nature
was unassisted, the area still largely looks like
a blast zone. But on managed Weyerhaeuser land,
the new forest thrives. The Mount St. Helens
eruption gave us an unprecedented laboratory to
test our forests' recuperative powers.
In examining clearcutting, shall we disregard
that experience and the science on which we base
our practices? If so, what should we base actions
on? Our foresters and public policy makers must
jointly answer these questions, using valid
criteria to determine where clearcutting is or is
not appropriate. Similar criteria are needed to
determine how much old growth is sufficient, when
a wildlife population is viable, or how
biodiversity is defined.
I'm hopeful that the process and criteria for
making such decisions may evolve from work by
groups such as the International Standards
Organization. Weyerhaeuser is also working this
issue through the Canadian Pulp & Paper
Association and the American Forest & Paper
Association.
Until better processes and criteria are
developed, however, we must proceed-using the
best information at hand-to make meaningful and
measurable improvements toward our vision. At
Weyerhaeuser, for instance, regional forest
councils set objectives for the soil, water, fish
and wildlife habitat, aesthetics and biodiversity
of our forests. These objectives are based both
on broad goals, such as protecting wetlands or
other special biotopes, and on more specific
priorities addressing individual species and
community issues. Our forest councils then define
changes in our practices to achieve those
objectives.
For example, we're taking fish and wildlife
habitat management a big step further by
developing our first multispecies habitat plan
for 40,000 hectares of our forestland in
southwest Washington state.
Last year, we voluntarily initiated the first
phase of this approach, known as watershed
analysis. The trial took place on 26,000 hectares
in another part of Washington-the Tolt River
watershed. It was a cooperative effort by
landowners, government agencies, native people
and environmental groups, each recognizing the
importance of protecting water quality. As
pressures on the earth's fresh-water resources
mount, better management of all forested
watersheds becomes essential. Further, we must
concern ourselves with not only individual
impacts on watersheds, but with the cumulative
effects of all human activities.
To understand those cumulative effects, a team
of scientists thoroughly studied the Tolt
watershed's slopes and soils, water flows,
erosion potential and fish habitat. The team then
defined special management prescriptions tailored
to the unique conditions in each area. These
prescriptions-such as increasing the riparian
buffer zones along certain streams-are in
addition to the normal forest practice rules.
We've begun implementing these prescriptions
and monitoring to test their effectiveness. That
makes this a dynamic, adaptive process that will
change with our understanding. In the next phase,
satellite images and on-site surveys will help us
address wildlife and biodiversity. By December
1994, Weyerhaeuser scientists will have analyzed
10 to 12 additional watersheds, with a goal of
completing five more each year.
Another example addresses scenic beauty, which
is especially important in my home state. We
asked the public about harvest aesthetics, and
consulted a well-known landscape architecture
firm to identify ways to better manage them. Then
we began training our foresters to consider those
perspectives when planning future harvests.
Over time, we expect efforts like these to result
in what my Swedish colleagues call a
"richer" forest.
The information we obtain in the previous step
will be invaluable for assuring both ourselves
and the public that we are, in fact, making
steady progress. This industry has a shaky record
in either announcing successes or admitting
difficulties. We must overcome that tendency, and
explain what we are doing and why.
We've done a good job of that in terms of
trees. I can tell you, for instance, that
Weyerhaeuser planted over 40 million seedlings
last year, or that we harvest no more than 2 to 3
percent of our forests each year, thus ensuring a
sustainable supply. I can also tell you that over
400 species of animals, birds and fish live in
our western U.S. forests-but I can't yet say how
that count may change over time, or whether it
implies appropriate biodiversity. We still must
develop consistent, meaningful methods for
tracking and communicating the improvements we
make.
We also realize we must speak a language our
audiences can understand. As scientists and
business people, our habit has been to
communicate primarily with facts, figures and
technical terms. Rarely have those been well
understood or well received. Our various
audiences are often more interested in the
spiritual, cultural and aesthetic values of
forests than in growth rates. We must better
consider those values.
Nor do our individual customers and
communities represent the only opportunities for
improved communication. The task before us is far
larger than a single company or country. As an
industry, we must support joint research. Share
our environmental discoveries. And learn from
others' successes and mistakes.
Finally, we must recognize that our vision
will evolve in response to new discoveries,
changed values or breakthrough technology. Our
challenge is to accept that uncertainty and
strive for our vision in a continuous improvement
cycle.
To summarize, the parts of that cycle again
are:
- first, defining a clear vision and values
for the future;
- second, identifying and taking concrete
steps to achieve that vision; and
- third, tracking and communicating our
progress.
Together, these three steps guide improvement
based on specific scientific knowledge while
ensuring decisions that fit a holistic view of
our forest ecosystems and the broad perspective
of our long-term goals.
This is not, by the way, "business as
usual." We have examined our forest
practices in response to public concern and are
making needed changes. I'm convinced that the
three-step approach I've described will result in
significant, measurable improvement. It has
already allowed companies worldwide to make
significant improvements toward superior
manufacturing. If you'd like to stop by the
Weyerhaeuser exhibit in the conference display
area, we'd be happy to tell you more about the
environmental improvements our company is already
making with this approach.
In closing, I'd like to leave you with this
thought: However our environmental vision takes
shape in the coming years, and however our
industry may change, we know today that we have a
long way to go. The complexity of our multiple
geographies, habitats, ownerships, publics and
political environments ensures that. But with a
vision firmly in place, and with a commitment to
measurable action and continuous improvement,
together we can reach that future.
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