Forestry and Timberland Management Education Our forestry team has been one of the strongest supporters of the LEAP program (Logger Education to Advance Professionalism) in Vermont. Bill Sayre has led the team in helping arrange for logger training classes and working with loggers to help them improve their training levels. While Vermont loggers have a long tradition of independence, as a group they are increasingly recognizing the need for a set of standards to help inform the public that the timber resource continues to be well cared for.
We believe that a trained logger workforce is an important part of marketing the Vermont forest products industry to consumers in the United States and around the world. While the current market benefit for certification is small, over time consumers will continue to ask for more information about the sustainability of the products they buy. This educational process will over time lead to consumers being more willing to pay some premium for products certified by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) and other certification systems, helping companies pay for the additional expense of certification processes. SFI is a good fit for the sustainability of our forests and for bringing that sustainable resource to market. SFI works closely with Conservation International to continually improve the standards of the SFI program. Over time, the various programs will become more similar and some may eventually merge, bringing more efficiency to the certification process and reducing the political maneuvering often seen today.
