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Cooperative Agreement Announced

Cooperative Agreement Announced

Published 09-28-00

Submitted by Willamette Industries

A cooperative agreement between Willamette Industries, The Nature Conservancy of Tennessee, and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) will continue to assure protection of biological diversity on 177,000 acres of forestlands in Tennessee owned by Willamette Industries. These participants have formally agreed to cooperate to identify and protect ecologically important areas and populations of rare plants and animals on Willamette’s lands in Tennessee.

“This agreement is great progress for everyone involved,” says TDEC Commissioner Milton H. Hamilton Jr. “It represents yet another example of the effectiveness of public/private partnerships in conserving and protecting Tennessee’s natural resources. It also underscores one of the many important values of private industrial forestlands in Tennessee.”

Under the 10-year agreement, the parties will cooperate to identify special management areas; restore and maintain habitats; and conduct biological inventories on Willamette-owned lands. Foresters for Willamette will receive training and resources to help them recognize certain important biological resources in the field. During the term of the agreement, Willamette will continue to manage its forestlands.

The Tennessee Division of Natural Heritage is the state agency with primary responsibility for the agreement. Director Reggie Reeves says, “We are very pleased with this agreement and look forward to working cooperatively with Willamette toward its mutually beneficial goals. Willamette is to be commended for its decision to enter into this agreement.”

Even before this agreement, the State and Willamette had been working together. In 1991 and 1997, two unique areas on Willamette’s lands were cooperatively protected for their ecological significance as Registered State Natural Areas. One of the areas protects an important population of the federally endangered Tennessee yellow-eyed grass and its rare seep habitat, while the other area protects rare barrens habitat and numerous state-listed plant species. An additional site is currently being considered for such recognition. And, in the mid 1980s, the state and Willamette cooperated to establish a Registered State Historic Site in Wayne County.

"This agreement is about sharing information and ideas to meet our common goal of responsible land stewardship, and Tennessee citizens will reap the benefits,” says Tom Hughes, district manager for Willamette’s Tennessee Timberlands. “It’s a visible sign of Willamette's commitment to the principles of the American Forest & Paper Association's Sustainable Forestry InitiativeSM program and to fostering working relationships with government and conservation organizations.”

A Fortune 500 forest products company, Willamette Industries owns approximately 1.7 million acres of forestland in the United States, including about 177,000 acres in Tennessee. The company's lands are managed sustainably according to the principles of the American Forest & Paper Association's Sustainable Forestry Initiative program. Willamette operates a fine paper mill and converting plant in Kingsport, Tennessee.

According to Reeves, large private industrial forestland owners like Willamette are proving to be very conscientious and effective conservation partners in Tennessee. “Our experience indicates that more often than not, these landowners are dedicated to managing their lands in a way that does not negatively affect the environment. Indeed, working with these large forestland owners provides opportunities to cooperate toward the protection of ecologically significant areas that might otherwise be difficult, if not impossible, to protect. We have had several examples recently where private corporate and industrial forestland owners have voluntarily donated or set aside unique areas for protection that otherwise might not have been protected,” adds Reeves.

“We appreciate the opportunity to work with industry leaders like Willamette to find economically viable practices that will also protect Tennessee’s natural resources,” says Scott Davis, state director of The Nature Conservancy of Tennessee.

The Nature Conservancy is a private, international, nonprofit organization established in 1951 to preserve plants, animals and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 11 million acres in the United States and Canada, and have helped through partnerships to preserve more than 60 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean and the Pacific. The Conservancy owns and manages more than 1,340 preserves, the largest private system of nature sanctuaries in the world.

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