Larry Selzer covered a lot of ground in his keynote address at the SFI annual conference. It was clearly well received, and was one of the highlights of the event.

Larry is an incredible advocate for working forests and certification because he has such a unique perspective. He heads The Conservation Fund, a top-ranked non-profit that last year was named #1 on Charity Navigator’s list of 10 of the Best Charities Everyone’s Heard Of for its efficient and fiscally responsible performance.

The Conservation Fund owns almost 100,000 acres of working forests in the United States. They are all actively managed, and certified to the SFI Standard. Larry has been a firm supporter of SFI certification since it began; he is currently vice chair of our board and a member of the board’s Conservation Chamber.

In his speech, he said he would like working forests to be seen as an essential part of infrastructure – like our rail lines, fiber optic cables and interstate highway system. “If we reframe our conversations about forests to include water security, energy independence and jobs here at home, I believe this will elevate them to a much higher level of discourse when it comes to policy decisions, funding and citizen support.”

He also issued some tough challenges. Environmental activists need to shift from dissembling and name calling to finding ways to expand conservation; corporate leaders need to stand up for what is right, not what is expedient; and elected officials need to recognize an investment in forests is an investment in clean air, clean water, energy independence and good jobs.

Larry is serving his second term on the SFI Board. He told us he came back because SFI is making a real difference on the ground, there is so much more to do to make sure we do not continue to lose millions of acres of working forests, and because the vast majority of the world’s forests are not yet certified. He was clear that he did not come back to respond to a steady stream of attacks by market campaign groups.

“If well-managed forests are the goal, we should all be celebrating the remarkable victory of having millions of acres of forests across North America certified,” he said. “We should not be wasting precious resources while millions of acres of forests disappear.”

I would encourage you to read Larry’s speech and circulate it – and let me know if you have thoughts about how we can build on his ideas. Larry ended with a quote from actor Christopher Reeve that is quite apt: “So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable.”

There’s a lot to like about SFI annual conferences.

They bring together the SFI community so we can share ideas and explore future opportunities with experts – this year speakers included Kathryn Fernholz from Dovetail, Scott McDougall from TerraChoice, Adam Grant from the World Resources Institute, Mary White from PepsiCo, Michael Luzier from the NAHB Research Center and Jimmie Powell from The Nature Conservancy. A panel of Aboriginal leaders shared their experiences with SFI, and three SFI board members engaged in a thoughtful open discussion.

The conference in Burlington, VT, was our biggest ever, with 226 participants. We welcomed customers – like PepsiCo, IKEA, JCPenney and Time – as well as delegates from companies and communities of all sizes, Aboriginal communities, government agencies and conservation groups. They included academics, students, auditors, biologists, printers, landowners and forest professionals – it truly represented The Bigger Picture – Conservation. Integrity. Community.

I was constantly reminded that it’s the passion, the enthusiasm, the knowledge and the diversity of our many participants and supporters that make the SFI program so strong. That’s why we are able to achieve so much in forests and communities across North America.

The conference awards luncheon gave me a chance to showcase some of this good work.

The Boy Scouts of America received the SFI President’s award for everything they do to promote the value of sustainable forestry. Their Forestry merit badge encourages scouts to explore the complexity of forests, and is especially important when you consider these youth are our future leaders, our future land managers, our future consumers. The Boy Scouts of America are also firm supporters of forest certification – their Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico is certified to the SFI Standard; Boys’ Life magazine is printed on SFI chain-of-custody certified paper; and they are using SFI-certified wood for facilities in West Virginia where the 2013 Scout Jamboree will be held.

At this year’s conference, we also celebrated the achievements of the Mississippi SFI Implementation Committee, The Lyme Timber Company and the Wildlife Management Institute.

The Mississippi SFI Implementation Committee met a broad range of criteria – including leadership, logger education, landowner outreach and education, SFI program integrity, and SFI program growth – to earn the 13th Annual SFI Implementation Committee Achievement Award. I can’t say enough about the fantastic contributions our SFI Implementation Committees make. By representing SFI locally, they help us support strong communities and responsible forest practices.

The Lyme Timber Company and Wildlife Management Institute received an SFI Conservation Leadership Award for Biodiversity Research for a project that is improving forest habitat for the American woodcock in northern New York State. As always, there are a lot of other partners involved – including New York State Department of Environmental Conservation; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; U.S. Geological Survey; National Fish and Wildlife Foundation; and Northeast Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies.

Thanks to everyone who made the 16^th Annual SFI Conference such a great success – including delegates, sponsors and speakers. Check our conference website where we have posted speaker presentations, including the inspiring keynote address by Larry Selzer, President and CEO of The Conservation Fund and an SFI board member.

I hope to see you at next year’s conference from Sept. 11 to 13 in Milwaukee.

It’s fitting that the themes for our 15th Annual Conference, is Power of Partnerships.  The world of responsible forestry and certification is so immense there is not a lot one organization can do on its own. The conference is set to explore the many ways collaboration leads to improved forest management, education & outreach efforts and implementation of the SFI Standard.

If you take a look at our conference agenda you will see we have lined up local and international speakers who will talk about partnerships yielding benefits for the forest products marketplace, communities, First Nations, and government agencies throughout North America and globally. Keynote speaker Linda Coady, Distinguished Fellow, University of British Columbia and Vice-President of Sustainability, Vancouver Olympics Organizing Committee will talk about Certification, Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability – The Next Generation.  We’ll also be making some exciting announcements.

We will be posting video from conference speakers as well as pictures from the event on our Annual Conference webpage – so check it out if you are not able to join us in Vancouver and take part virtually.

Brian Dumaine is going to be the keynote speaker at our conference this year in Nashville. He’s the global editor of FORTUNE magazine but also directs FORTUNE’s green technology and environmental policy stories. So we’re in for a thought-provoking talk. In fact, I heard Brian speak earlier this year at FORTUNE’s Brainstorm Green, where he moderated a session on maintaining green business in challenging economic times. I found that his views on how to simultaneously do the right thing for the environment and business were very enlightening. He is also the author of the newly published The Plot to Save the Planet: How Visionary Entrepreneurs and Corporate Titans Are Creating Real Solutions To Global Warming. Recently, I had the chance to ask him about his views on the green economy and his thinking on breakthrough green technologies and how it relates to sustainable forestry.

Click on the play button below to listen to our discussion.

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