News Release

ESA Corporate Award winner 2001: Weyerhaeuser Company Limited British Columbia Coastal Forest Project Team

Peer-Reviewed Publication

Ecological Society of America

On Thursday, August 9, 2001 the Ecological Society of America, at its 86th Annual Meeting in Madison, Wisconsin, will present its Corporate Award to Weyerhaeuser Company Limited and its British Colombia Coastal Forest Project Team. The Corporate Award honors a company that incorporates sound ecological concepts and practices into planning and operating procedures.

Part of The British Columbia Coastal Group, the Forest Project Team allocates land resources into three zones, each with a unique mix of management objectives and techniques: Timber, Habitat, and Old Growth. Even in the timber zone, clear-cutting has been eliminated and each zone is managed with a distinct mix of partial cutting systems. The program utilizes input from the scientific and environmental communities and government, as well as employee safety considerations, to better manage the resources and the land.

The ecologists and staff of MacMillan Bloedel Limited, a large forest products company operating in British Columbia, Canada in the late 1990's, originated this new approach to ecosystem management in 1997. The Forest Project planning and stewardship approach persisted through the purchase of the company by Weyerhauser in 1999. The project has formed notable partnerships since its formation, including the creation of Iisaak Forest Resources.

Nominations for the Corporate Award came from various individuals at Simon Fraser University and the University of Washington.

"ESA commends Weyerhaeuser Company Limited British Columbia Coastal Forest Project Team for their efforts to incorporate responsible forestry management with multiple viewpoints from the scientific, corporate, and environmental communities," says ESA President Stephen Carpenter.

The Forest Project Team is regarded as a model for others who strive to balance ecology and economics in forestry management. The British Columbia Coastal Group is currently working with environmental groups and three British Colombia forest companies to create proposals for innovative solutions for forestry management of the Central and North Coast of the province.

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To learn more about Weyerhaeuser Company Limited British Columbia Coastal Forest Project Team visit: http://www.weyerhaeuser.com/coastalwood/wycedar/cedar_cert.htm, or see: http://www.mbltd.com/enviro/forestproject/tfp_press.htm.

The Ecological Society of America (ESA) is a scientific, non-profit, 7,800-member organization founded in 1915. Through ESA reports, journals, membership research, and expert testimony to Congress, ESA seeks to promote the responsible application of ecological data and principles to the solution of environmental problems. ESA publishes three scientific, peer-reviewed journals: Ecology, Ecological Applications, and Ecological Monographs. Information about the Society and its activities is published in the Society's quarterly newsletter, ESA NewSource, and in the quarterly Bulletin. More information can be found on the ESA website: http://esa.sdsc.edu


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