Friday, 13 May 2022
FSC Visits Key Stakeholders in the Field
To engage with FSC stakeholders in the field, understand their perspectives and explore opportunities to maximize the value proposition of FSC, FSC US President Derik Frederiksen recently spent time in Maine. With support from FSC US Board Member and Executive Director of the Trust to Conserve Northeast Forests, Ted Wright, Derik met with Sappi, the Penobscot Nation, Wagner Forest Management, Nine Dragons, Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands, and MixedWood to better understand the issues and opportunities in front of them.
In a visit to Sappi’s Somerset Mill, Derik met with a wide range of team members to understand how FSC can add value to their business. In addition to the people in the photo, Derik also met with Rebecca Barnard, Forestry Certification Manager; Giorgia Calcagno, Process Engineer (who led the Sappi Somerset plant tour); Dave Turcotte, Sherwood Swain, and John Reardon (who provided a tour of the woodyard and woodyard control room); and two operators in the paper plant: Gene Meunier and Bret Hovey.
Image: Anne Ayer, VP, Pulp Business and Supply Chain; Ted Wright, Executive Director of the Trust to Conserve NE Forests and FSC US Board Member, Derik Frederiksen, Sean Wallace, Managing Director, Somerset Operations; Beth Cormier, VP Research, Development, and Sustainability; Ryan McAvoy, Fiber Supply Manager, and Manoj Sujanani, Chief Procurement Officer
In a meeting with the Penobscot Nation, Derik learned about their forest management, and how it connects to their culture and traditions. In addition to the people in the photo – which was taken at the Argyle Deer Wintering Area – Derik met with Chuck Loring, Jr., who is a Penobscot tribal member and Penobscot Nation’s Director of Natural Resources, overseeing seven departments including Forestry. The Argyle Deer Wintering Area contains historical hunting lands of the Penobscot, due to their proximity to the Penobscot River and its tributary, Birch Stream, which flows through the Argyle lands. These lands are managed for wildlife, and all forest practices that occur on the lands are to improve wildlife habitat and promote better winter cover for deer.
Image: Derik, Seneca Stevens, Penobscot tribal member and Penobscot Nation Forester; Ben Stevens, Passamaquoddy tribal member and Penobscot Nation Forest Manager.
Image: Derik met with Wagner Forest Management, winner of a 2021 FSC Leadership Award. Included in the photo are Derik, Gordon Gamble, Forest Certification Manager, Travis Howard, Operations Manager, Andrew Brown, Forester – Forest Certification, Mike Novello, Wind Manager and Dan Hudnut, President.
In meetings with Nine Dragons, Derik toured the ND Rumford Falls Mill to learn about their paper-making process.
Image: Derik, Luke Greenwood, Procurement, Fiber for Nine Dragons Paper, Joel Slate, Corporate Director of Fiber Supply, Nine Dragons Paper, and Ted Wright at the Rumford Mill.
While in Rumford, Derik met with Dan Simonds of MixedWood, to hear his thoughts about FSC’s growth and direction.
Image: Dan Simonds, Principal of MixedWood with Derik. MixedWood is an FSC Member and forest certification consulting firm from Rangeley, Maine.
Derik met with the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands, which manages 600,000 acres of FSC-certified forest.
Image: Andy Cutko, Director of Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands, Bill Patterson, Deputy Director, Derik and Ted.
On behalf of the entire FSC community, Derik offers his sincere thanks and appreciation to all of the people he met with for taking time out of their busy schedules to share their knowledge and perspectives about the future of responsible forest management and sustainable supply chains.