Wood procurement organizations face rigorous demands to demonstrate compliance with rapidly evolving standards of environmental performance and sustainability while meeting cost and quality objectives in dynamic global markets.
Because wood procurement is a complex process, there is a need to take a “systems view” of wood procurement when developing technical information. This includes quantifying “environmental footprints” in the context of life-cycle analyses, reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in forest products value chains, and evaluating the current and potential effects of selected constraints on management in “green market” mechanisms.
Sustainability and Fiber Supply
Sustainable forest management requires accurate and current information about forest resources. Forest biometrics applies sampling theory, statistical analysis techniques, and mathematical models to quantify current forest conditions and to develop projections.
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Member Companies typically participate in forest certification, fiber sourcing, and/or chain of custody programs developed by organizations such as the Sustainable Forestry Initiative® (SFI), Forest Stewardship Council, and Sustainable Biomass Program. NCASI Staff provides Member Companies with support for work associated with SFI (e.g., Conservation and Community Partnerships Grant Program),…
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The US Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program provides crucial information for the sustainable management of forests in both public and private sectors. The Biometrics Working Group (BWG) advises Member Companies on issues related to forest measurements, monitoring, and assessment, and provides feedback to FIA to promote program…
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Since the organization's establishment in 1943, NCASI has worked to support Member Companies and address their informational needs related to sustainable wood procurement and environmental issues that influence wood/fiber supplies.
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Forest resource data collected from field inventory, remote sensing platforms, mill and landowner surveys, and other sources, are critical for assessing and communicating sustainability of forest resources and the organizations that depend on them. These data often require highly technical analytical approaches to accurately filter, summarize, and report appropriate metrics…
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Maps OnLine Evaluator (MOLE), allows users to create customized maps for online display and analysis using various combinations of FIA data and other topographic data, including roads, streams and waterbodies, digital elevation, and land cover data.
Learn MoreForest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) data are essential for providing information about forest resources of the United States. The FIA program includes not only forest inventory data collected from field plots, but production data collected from mill surveys as part of the Timber Products Output (TPO) program. Due to…
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Forest products companies participating in forest certification programs are expected to take appropriate steps to conserve at-risk species in forests they manage and from which they procure wood. Member Companies also often use data describing occurrences of high-priority species to address conservation of biological diversity in their forest management and…
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The Southern OnLine Estimator (SOLE) is an Internet-based database analysis tool developed cooperatively by NCASI and the U.S. Forest Service Southern Research Station.
Learn MoreLarge wildfires in the western United States have brought forest management policy into focus. Reducing stand density through thinning has…
Learn MoreThis fact sheet provides a brief overview of clearcut harvesting, notes important environmental consequences of clearcut harvest, and explains the difference between clearcut harvest and deforestation.
Learn MoreThis fact sheet provides a brief overview of current knowledge about historical changes in forest growth and suggests how continuing changes may impact future fiber supply.
Learn MoreTo better understand potential effects of bioenergy demand on forest resources, NCASI evaluated harvest and regeneration trends and drivers of forest management across the southeastern US as related to potential forest loss.
Learn MoreThis fact sheet provides a brief overview of the risks to commercial forestry posed by invasive species, and the current research gaps associated with cost-effective solutions.
Learn MoreFire can have positive or negative effects on forest ecosystems, depending on the characteristics of the forest and of the fire.
Learn MoreThis NCASI review examines scientific literature that suggest climate change may be mitigated through proforestation, reducing or eliminating timber harvest to increase carbon storage in forests.
Learn MoreThe manufacturing process and pollution control practices at pulp and paper and wood products facilities generate several types of non-hazardous…
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