In 1994, the Northern Forest Lands Council issued its report Finding Common
Ground—Conserving the Northern Forest. In it [see publications page for information on how to obtain a copy] the Council wrote extensively on sustainable forest management in a section by that name.The Council wrote, “People have expressed concern over current management of the forest. Management for a wide range of benefits is central to the region’s economic and environmental health and way of life. The forests have long been the primary economic foundation of the Northern Forest communities, and the continuation of the region's traditions depends on the continued vitality of forest management and the associated forest industries.”
The Council then laid out its view of forest sustainability by creating a set of “Principles of Sustainability” which they suggested others develop the details around. The intent was to set a criteria in place for forest managers to strive towards. The Principles are simple and worth mentioning here:
- Maintenance of soil productivity.
- Conservation of water quality, wetlands, and riparian zones.
- Maintenance or creation of a healthy balance of forest age classes.
- Continuous flow of timber, pulpwood, and other forest products.
- Improvement of the overall quality of timber resources as a foundation for
- more value-added opportunities.
- Addressing scenic quality by limiting adverse aesthetic impacts of forest
- harvesting, particularly in high elevation areas and vistas.
- Conservation and enhancement of habitats that support a full range of
- native flora and fauna.
- Protection of unique or fragile natural areas.
- Continuation of opportunities for traditional recreation.
An overarching theme of forest sustainability was adopted internationally following the Earth Summit in Rio de Janero in 1992 called the “Criteria & Indicators for the Sustainable Management of Temperate and Boreal Forests.” These criteria were developed for use at the country scale - for countries to gather sustainability data to determine if they are managing their forests sustainably.
Forest sustainability certification and the international criteria and indicators and other schemes and processes are in constant flux as more information becomes available on the subject. For certain is the interest in seeing the forests of the Northern Forest managed sustainably, however defined.