Nurturing Sustainability
Finch Paper is investing to assure healthy, productive forests and future access to high-quality supplies --- for itself and its customers
By George Linkletter
Finch Paper is taking an important step to assure access to a cost-effective and sustainable supply of raw materials: it is extending its in-house forest management expertise to private landowners.
“We are interested in seeing as many forests remain as forests for as long as possible --- for the paper and wood products we rely on, but also for clean air and water, for a diversity of wildlife habitat and for recreational purposes," explained Roger Dziengeleski, the Finch vice president and certified forester who is directing the consulting unit.
Targeted at large landowners within 200 miles of its Adirondacks, N.Y. mill, the five-person consulting team will now provide expertise on long-term forest management practices to both private and public landowners.
The expanded consulting effort is significant for two reasons.
First, for the print/mail finishing industry, it shows that Finch, a highly-regarded producer of uncoated paper used in the mailing industry, is investing now to assure the cost-effective availability of its products ten, 20 or even 50 years in the future.
Second, it represents a significant effort by Finch to broaden the concept of sustainable forestry practices to lands that are not owned or controlled by a paper company.
No Longer Integrated
Previously, Finch --- like many other paper companies --- was fully integrated, controlling a soup-to-nuts operation from tree seedlings to finished product via its own land, forest, wood yard, pulp mill and paper making capability. That integrated model of business is now largely obsolete, due to corporate taxes, population growth, and the demand for of commercial land development.
“Over time it just became a costly disadvantage to own land as a forest products corporation,” said Dziengeleski.
In Finch’s case, the firm sold the 161,000 acres it owned in the Adirondacks to The Nature Conservancy in 2007. The sale allows Finch to continue receiving pulpwood via sustainable forestry practices for 20 years, with the pulpwood going to the firm’s Glens Falls, NY paper mill.
Earlier this year The Nature Conservancy sold 92,000 acres to a Danish pension fund. New York State is expected to purchase most of the remaining 68,000 acres for public access. (The most recent sale both prohibits any commercial development and requires the land be managed to Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) standards.)
Nearly all the wood Finch uses at its mill is from privately owned forests, with about half coming from the Adirondacks region, and the remainder from Vermont, New Hampshire, and the Connecticut-Massachusetts-southern New York regions. Individuals and small families own more than 75 percent of the forestland in the Northeast.
"We’re going to continue to manage the land in the Adirondacks to FSC and SFI standards," explained Dziengeleski, “only now we will extend that same expertise to a broader group of landowners in the region.
Productive and Sustainable
Forests that are managed for sustainability are more productive over the long term while they continue to provide important environmental benefits.
“Hopefully, the private landowners will allow us to manage their land, which can provide the owners with a more sustainable income while enabling us to acquire certified fiber for our business in the future.”
Dziengeleski is on solid ground when he says Finch “takes its commitment to sustainability very seriously.” The firm, in operation on the Hudson River since 1865, generates two-thirds of the power it consumes from renewable sources.
Hydropower provides the bulk of electricity. Biomass powers the co-generation plant to provide steam for paper drying and more electricity to help run the paper machines. Biomass fuel consists of the solid waste of bark, sawdust and rejected wood chips, from Finch’s operation as well as others.
As for sustainable forests, the firm points with pride to its record of selection harvesting. For more than 100 years it has taken timber from the lands it managed at the rate of less than two percent per year. During that time it has run a successful business, providing jobs, taxes and a quality product to satisfied customers. And those forests were continually renewed with young trees that can grow to full maturity, maintaining the ecosystem and that was off limits to development.
“The expertise our forestry staff possesses is a tremendous asset,” he added, “both to our company and to nearby forest owners and society in general.”
Comments? Contact georgelinkletter@charter.net.