where timber and other goods and services of 
forests are traded freely. 
| see a region where landowners and investors 
are joined together in mutually beneficial productive 
ventures, where information about forestry as an 
investment is freely available, where forestry capital 
is actively traded without the need to cut trees at 
inopportune times. We cannot always expect forest 
Capital to flow as freely as on Wall Street, but we can 
work toward greasing the skids a bit by providing 
information on the opportunities for gain through 
better forest management. 
| see forests that are adequately protected from 
fire, insects, and diseases so that landowners need 
not fear the common risks we can mitigate. 
| see a South where the incentives, financial and 
otherwise, favor management to sustain and in- 
crease productivity, rather than encouraging 
landowners merely to cut and walk away. 
Finally, | want a forest where we all see the 
future as it can be and work together to make it 
happen. But my vision will not come true without 
three things: capital, cooperation, and commitment. 
We must gain access to capital needed to in- 
crease the productivity of our forests. It is clear that 
32 
a major infusion of new money is needed, from 
whatever sources are available. Sustaining our 
forests means that we must stop draining their value 
without replacing some of it. We can pay for produc- 
tivity gains now, or we can pay later in the form of 
lost jobs, lost income, and lost opportunities. 
We must cooperate to achieve our collective 
goals for the future. The diverse owners of the South 
cannot be reached nor the diverse forests saved by 
any one organization or any one program. We all 
have a role in the job of increasing the productivity 
of our State and private lands. Each of the remedies 
cited above can lead us closer to a stronger south- 
ern forest economy. We all must work together in a 
unified front to assure that each acre of forest land 
is managed to produce the greatest good for the 
greatest number for the longest time. 
Finally, we must be committed to making it hap- 
pen. We must examine all our choices for action and 
then commit ourselves and our organizations to the 
selected path. Only by fully embracing a set of goals 
as a common vision can we keep the future green. 
| challenge you to accept the commitment. 
