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Sustainable forestry means managing our forests to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. This is accomplished by practicing a land stewardship ethic that integrates the growing, nurturing, and harvesting of trees for useful products with the conservation of soil, air and water quality and wildlife and fish habitat.
Forests are about more than just timber supply for the mills, and mean many things to many people. Forests provide homes to a tremendous variety of wildlife, clean drinking water, and places for recreation, along with supplying us raw material for the products we use on a daily basis.
The goal of sustainable forestry is to combine the continuous growing and harvesting of trees with the protection of wildlife, plants, soil and water quality, and a wide range of other conservation goals. In order to help us promote and further follow the practices of sustainable forestry, the Company developed its own forest philosophy many years ago with policies to guide our day-to-day forest management operations. I believe it is important to continually share these forest policies with our employees, customers, vendors, and trading partners.
As a member of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative SM (SFI), Hampton is committed to use the SFI 2010-2014 Standards Edition for its U.S. and Canadian forestry operations. Our timberlands and procurement processes are third-party audited as required. In addition to SFI, our mills at Tillamook, Oregon, Morton and Randle, Washington, are FSC certified.
Hampton Affiliates currently owns and manages approximately 93,000 acres (37,636 hectares) of timberland in Oregon and Washington. In addition, Hampton is involved in the management of approximately 155,800 hectares (385,000 acres) of publicly owned forest land in British Columbia. Our timberland is one of the company’s most valuable assets, and provides a stable raw material source for our manufacturing facilities and financial flexibility in terms of planning for the Company’s growth.
As a policy for responsible stewardship of forestlands, Hampton will:
· Manage our forestlands to maximize the production of timber over the long-term while giving due consideration to other forest benefits such as clean air and water, wildlife, aesthetics, unique sites, and recreational opportunities.
· Aggressively reforest harvested areas at the first reasonable opportunity.
· Meet or exceed state and provincial forest management guidelines and applicable water quality laws and regulations.
· Provide habitat diversity on our forestlands by maintaining a variety of forested conditions across our ownership.
· Consider options that enhance the visual quality of harvested units.
· Manage our forests to maintain or improve health and productivity, and protect it from wildfire, invasive plants, insects, disease and other damaging agents.
· Utilize state-of-the-art science and technology to enhance forest resource management and improve wood utilization.
· Meet or exceed all applicable label requirements, laws and regulations concerning use of fertilizers, herbicides and other forest chemicals.
· Use and promote forestry practices that are both economically and environmentally responsible.
· Comply with social laws, such as those covering civil rights, equal employment opportunities, anti-discrimination and anti-harassment measures, workers' compensation, indigenous peoples' rights, workers' and communities' right to know, prevailing wages, workers' right to organize, and occupational health and safety.
To learn more about Sustainable Forestry at Hampton and the Principles and Objectives of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative SM please go to our website at www.hamptonaffiliates.com |