Sustainable forest management (SFM) is the long-term care and stewardship of forests to balance and maintain their environmental, economic, and social benefits today and in the future. TIR views sustainable forest management as a vital part of our culture as stewards of the land, not just something that is good business or a social responsibility.
Many forests in the U.S. are certified under sustainable forestry certifications programs offered by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), and America Tree Farm System (ATFS). Forests managed to one of these organization’s certifications have management regimes that ensure sustainability.
Sustainable forest management is widely adopted by the forest sector in the U.S., which is one of the reasons the country has enjoyed stable forest cover for much of the last century. This stands in contrast to many parts of the world, where unsustainable practices are more common.
Sustainable forest management ensures that our forests are managed using scientifically rigorous standards, systems, policies, and procedures incorporated into forest management plans. The core principle of sustainable forest management is the continuous cycle of growth, harvest, and regrowth.
Regrowing forests after sustainably harvesting timber is an entire field of scientific study. Depending on forest ecology, regrowing harvested forests is done by planting seedlings or through natural regeneration, where the forest is managed so it regrows on its own as it would after a natural disturbance.
Each year, forest owners of all types plant more than 1 billion seedlings. TIR alone plants more than 10 million seedlings annually as part of our sustainable forestry practices.