In 2014, a key part of our work to secure a legacy of forest protection is the implementation of our agreements with forest products giants Georgia-Pacific and International Paper. Now that we have a seat at the table, Dogwood Alliance will remain vigilant to make sure that promises are kept by GP and IP to analyze the conservation values in their sourcing regions, to protect endangered forests and to work to maintain natural hardwood stands from conversion to pine plantations. In addition, we will be working with International Paper to help guide their multi-million dollar conservation initiative with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation(NFWF) to fund conservation projects in the Cumberland Plateau, the Piney Woods of East Texas and the Coastal Plain of the Carolinas.

In 2014, we will complete the mapping of endangered and high conservation forests across GP’s US footprint. This means that for the first time we’ll be doing mapping work outside the South in the Pacific Northwest and Upper Midwest. We’ll have to reach out to new environmental stakeholders to make sure that the mapping effort accurately captures all of the important conservation values of those new regions. In addition, we will work with GP to finalize their tools to track natural hardwood stands to ensure that if the stands are converted, no wood will end up in the GP supply chain.

With International Paper (IP), 2014 focuses on kicking into gear the agreement announced last March with conservation mapping of forest in and around IP’s large Rieglewood Mill located in Southeast North Carolina. The sourcing footprint for this mill covers a lot of important forests, and we will be working closely with additional environmental groups on the ground in the region to make sure our work with IP captures the important conservation values. We also hope to identify worthy conservation initiatives in the region and bring resources to them through the NFWF program.

Keep your eyes peeled for progress reports from the field.