Forest Conference Report No. 2, 2024

Rafal Chudy,a,* Shaun Tanger,b Jacek Siry,c Elizabeth Rogers,d Ryan Vinhal,d Mindy Crandall,e Jordi Garcia-Gonzalo.f

a: Forest Business Analytics, Łódź, Poland.
b: University of Arkansas, College of Forestry, Agriculture and Natural Resources, Monticello, AR, USA.
c: University of Georgia, Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, Athens, GA, USA
d: Forest Service, Northern Research Station, Rhinelander, WI, USA.
e: Oregon State University, College of Forestry, Corvallis, OR, USA.
f: Forest Sciences and Technology Center of Catalonia, Solsona, Spain.
*Corresponding author: E-mail: rafal@forest-journal.com

Citation: Chudy R, Tanger S, Siry J, Rogers E, Vinhal R, Crandall M, Garcia-Gonzalo J. 2024. Forest Conference Report No. 2, 2024. J.For.Bus.Res. 3(2): 86-101. https://doi.org/10.62320/jfbr.v3i2.62

Published: 30 December 2024

Copyright: © 2024 by the authors

ABSTRACT

Forest Conference Reports provide an overview of selected conferences the JFBR Editorial Team visited during a particular time period. In this issue, we cover meetings throughout 2024.

Forest conferences featured in this report:

  • International Society of Forest Resource Economics (ISFRE);
  • 7th Sustainable Investor Forum (SIS);
  • Short Rotation Woody Crops International Conference (SRWCIC);
  • The 20th Symposium on System Analysis in Forest Resources (SSAFR2024);
  • IV International Forest Business Conference (IFBC);
  • Western Forest Economists (WFE);
  • International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) World Congresses.

In addition, we highlight the upcoming 2025 events that align with the mission of the Journal of Forest Business Research and encourage everyone to attend:

  • ISFRE
  • University of Georgia (UGA) Timberland Investment Conference
  • Scandinavian Society of Forest Economics (SSFE)
  • WFE
  • DecisionES Annual Conference

Would you be interested in inviting our Journal to your upcoming forest event? We would love to feature it in our following Forest Conference Reports and share the details with our Readers. Let us know if you would be open to this, and we can discuss the logistics further. Contact Rafal Chudy at: rafal@forest-journal.com

Keywords: conference, forest, report

International Society of Forest Resource Economics (ISFRE)

April 1-3, 2024 / Little Rock, AR, USA / Elaborated by: Shaun Tanger

For the 45th time, The International Society of Forest Resource Economics (formally SOFEW) held its annual meeting on April 1-3, 2024. The theme for the meeting was “What’s Over the Horizon? Future Challenges and Opportunities Facing Sustainable Forest Management”. Presenters covered a wide range of forestry topics:  aspects of timber management and utilization, timber supply and demand, international trade, forest policy, law and many other current issues involved in the business of forestry. The meeting was held at the Little Rock Marriot in Arkansas and was hosted by the newly formed Arkansas Center for Forest Business, College of Forestry, Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Arkansas at Monticello, which welcomed approximately 80 forest resource economists from around the Country. The meeting consisted of 1.5 days of presentations followed by a half-day field trip.

In keeping with the theme of the meeting, we welcomed industry representatives from Weyerhaeuser, Boise Cascade, and Kingwood Forestry to discuss what they saw as pressing research needs for the larger profession. The meeting was also the first welcoming plenary speakers. Bruce Westerman, who represents Arkansas’s 4th congressional district, is the only active congressman with a forestry degree who addressed important issue areas for researchers to explore from his perspective and mentioned several forestry initiatives of his own.

Congressman Bruce Westerman, AR 4th district, plenary speaker.

The meeting is traditionally capped off with a field trip, and this year, it was held at the Wilson Brothers Lumber Co. sawmill operation in Rison, AR. The Wilson brother’s lumber company is unique in that it includes two logging companies, a lumber company, an equipment company, and a forest management company, employing more than 100 people in Cleveland County, Arkansas. Wilson Brothers Lumber Co. was founded in 1970. The company designs record-keeping software for lumber operations, loggers, and landowners and owns over 30,000 acres. Some land is currently piloting both pine/hardwood mixtures and wide-spacing pine plantations as possible larger-scale answers to depressed pine pulpwood prices in the Western Gulf region.

UAM graduate student Bandana Subedi, winner of one of the Journal of Forest Business Research (JFBR) oral presentation awards and UAM faculty member Dr. Nana Tian. The Journal has partnered with ISFRE to fund these awards for the last few years.

7th Sustainable Investor Forum (SIS)

May 7-8, 2024 / Frankfurt, Germany / Elaborated by: Jacek Siry 

The 7th Sustainable Investor Summit (SIS) was organized by the Institutional Capital Forum on May 7-8, 2024 in Frankfurt, Germany. The purposes of SIS were to advance sustainable, responsible and impact investing across a range of asset classes. The program covered the latest developments in sustainable and impact investment, strategy, regulation, data and impact measurement, reporting, and innovation financing.

Rafal Chudy moderated the expert panel on “Forestry: the little know asset class with a big future,” during which expert panelists Jyri Hietala (Fund Manager, United Bankers), Roger Naylor (Portfolio Manager, Evli Fund Management Company Ltd), Jasper Renk (Senior Investment Manager Forestry & Agriculture, MEAG), and Jacek Siry (Stuckey Timberland Professor of Forest Economics and Taxation, The University of Georgia) discussed the most recent developments in the world of forest investments. Forestry was recognized as a complex asset class demanding dedicated expertise to develop successful investments. While these investments are less liquid, they provide opportunities to capitalize on illiquidity premiums. Forest investments require patient capital and a long-term vision to produce attractive risk-adjusted returns. The stable demand for wood-based products and the emergence of markets for ecosystem services (carbon sequestration, biodiversity conservation) were recognized as key current and future return drivers, allowing the achievement of financial return along with positive environmental impacts.

2024 Short Rotation Woody Crops International Conference

May 13-16, 2024 / Columbia, MO, USA / Elaborated by: Elizabeth Rogers and Ryan Vinhal

The 14th biennial Short Rotation Woody Crops International Conference was hosted by the University of Missouri Center for Agroforestry (UMCA) from May 13-16, 2024, in Columbia, MO. The conference theme was “The Future is Green: Integrating Short Rotation Woody Crops (SRWCs), Agroforestry, and Ecosystem Services for Sustainable, Productive Landscapes”. A joint meeting of the Short Rotation Woody Crops Operations Working Groups and the Poplar and Willow Council of Canada (PWCC), the 2024 conference brought together members of leading SRWC and agroforestry organizations with the goal of enhancing information exchange and fostering collaboration for integrating SWRCs into agroforestry systems. The conference began with tours of UMCA facilities on Monday, followed by technical presentations on Tuesday and Wednesday. The conference’s final day started with a panel discussion among SRWC and agroforestry researchers and practitioners on current challenges and opportunities for integrating short-rotation woody crops into agroforestry systems. That afternoon, the conference concluded with a field tour of UMCA’s Horticulture and Agroforestry Research Farm.

Over 60 participants from around the world attended the conference, including researchers, practitioners, students, and farmers. The conference consisted of three plenary presentations, 31 oral presentations, and 17 poster presentations from a variety of topic areas, including agroforestry, biomass production, economics, ecosystem services, genetics, physiology, and phytotechnologies.

Unique to this year’s conference, there were multiple student-focused initiatives throughout, including: 1) the first-ever Woody Crops Scholars Program, 2) a student career panel discussion, and 3) a student presentation competition. These initiatives enhanced student participation and engagement at the conference and were supported by the Journal of Forest Business Research (JFBR), PWCC, Mississippi State University, University of Missouri, Intrinsyx Environmental, and Ecolotree. JFBR sponsored the 1st place awards for the winners of the oral and poster presentation competitions that were given to Macy Gosselaar (The University of British Columbia) and Ruth Williamson (University of Missouri), respectively, for their outstanding student forest research. JFBR Scientific Advisory Board Member Dr. Austin Himes, who presented on “Biomass yield of Populus in experimental monoclonal and polyclonal plantings”, was the chair of the student subcommittee of the conference and presented the awards to the 1st place winners.