2nd National Extension Nat Res Conference-Abstract 42

Mark Dubois, School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, 108 M. White Smith Hall, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849-5418; 334-844-1037; dubois@forestry.auburn.edu; Rick Fletcher, College of Forestry, Oregon State University, Peavy Hall 009, Corvallis, OR 97331; 541-737-8304; rick.fletcher@orst.edu; and Michael Washburn, Sustainable Forestry Partnership, 800 9th Street SW Third Floor, Washington, DC 20024; 202-401-5934; sfp@psu.edu;

We will address the development of the Sustainable Forestry Partnership as an organization to document innovations in sustainable forestry and seeing them integrated broadly into practice. Current Partnership members include Auburn University, USDA-Cooperative States Research Education and Extension Service, Oregon State University, and Penn State University.

The Partnership, as a university based, scholarly enterprise, offers an objective platform for discussion of innovation. By combining university faculty skills with expert talent from the private industry and NGO community, and to some extent, government agencies, the Partnership has engaged broad constituencies and facilitated discourse on controversial environmental issues related to forest resource policy and practice.

The Partnership joined with the MacArthur Foundation to document a variety of real world case studies that speak to the practical challenges of sustaining forests, and associated human communities. The approach used by the Partnership provides views of forest management, which include ecological, economic, and social dimensions.

In its 5-year history the Partnership has documented innovations throughout North America and selected operations in South America and Europe. Small landowners, industrial companies, and others up and down the forest products value chain have been featured. Results of the case studies are available in a number of forms, including books, journal articles, fact sheets, and teaching case studies. Partnership specialists teach workshops and seminars, featuring contemporary topics such as forest certification, environmental marketing, and land tenure. They also conduct operational research to document advances in sustainable forestry practices and policies.