PSU MBA Students Focus on Forest Issues

The Hyla Woods Team is excited to see students from all ages and disciplines come to the forests to seek answers to questions that are important to them – and to us.  This fall it was our pleasure to work with students in Portland State University’s Masters in Business Administration program.

Here is a taste of what they explored and learned.  If you would like a copy of their full paper, just let us know.

We send our thanks to the students for their interest and good work.

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Best Practices in Sustainable Forestry and

Learning from Hyla Woods

Ariella Frishberg, Lukas Robuck, Jacob Taddy

Portland State University

 

Executive Summary

Forestry is an integral part of Oregon’s, and the global, economy. As society faces growing threats of climate change, sustainable forestry not only addresses the future supply of timber and paper products but the existence of forest ecosystems as a whole. The profit-focused industry has not widely adopted sustainability practices. However, myriad players, such as the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) and locally, Hyla Woods, are promoting and implementing best practices with the potential to revolutionize the industry towards regenerative, sustainable, ecosystem-focused forestry practices.

Conclusion

            In closing, forestry is a powerful industry that could benefit from increased attention to CSR and sustainable practices. The current profit focused industry is not sustainable long-term. To aid the transition into a more sustainable industry, government officials need to get serious about protecting our natural assets and implement more stringent industry requirements, as well as incentives for sustainable practices. The potential to earn more profit long term should outweigh the desire to earn a profit. short-term. Industry leaders should look to organizations like Hyla Woods to learn more about what it means to practice regenerative forestry.