Head of Resource Management Service Elected to SFI Board

WASHINGTON, March 13, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Craig Blair, President and CEO of Resource Management Service LLC (RMS) has been elected to the independent Sustainable Forestry Initiative Inc.® (SFI®) Board of Directors.

"Our company was founded in 1950 by two foresters who shared a vision of the economic and environmental benefits sustainably managed private forests could provide to our nation," Blair said today. "I'm pleased to be able to continue that legacy as a member of SFI's Board of Directors. Certification plays a vital role in leading the continual improvement of forest management practices and providing customers with certainty that the products they use each day come from well-managed forests that are sustained for current and future generations."

RMS is a privately held timberland investment firm serving pension funds, endowments, foundations and family offices. Its lands in the United States are certified to the SFI 2010-2014 Standard. Blair, who has led the company since 2010, has direct responsibility for its investments and operating businesses in the United States, Australia, Brazil, China and New Zealand. As Chair of the company's Board of Managers and Investment Committee, he leads a team of forestry and financial professionals that manage a global timberland portfolio of more than $4.5 billion. 

"Craig Blair has broad experience in the forest sector in North America and globally, and he will be able to make a strong contribution to our multi-disciplinary board," SFI President and CEO Kathy Abusow said. "I am looking forward to working with RMS because of their global perspective on emerging forestry and supply chain issues."

The three-chamber SFI board represents environmental, economic and social interests equally, and members include representatives of environmental, professional and academic groups, independent loggers, family forest landowners, public officials, labor and the forest products sector.

Blair joins David Walkem, President of Stuwix Resources Joint Venture, who was also elected to the SFI board's economic chamber. They replace Daniel S. Fulton, President and CEO, Weyerhaeuser Company, and Rick R. Holley, President and CEO, Plum Creek Timber Company Ltd.

SFI Inc. is a registered charitable organization responsible for the largest single forest certification standard in the world. The SFI program works with a wide array of partners to improve forest management in Canada and the United States, and sourcing worldwide.

About SFI Inc.
SFI Inc. is an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable organization, and is solely responsible for maintaining, overseeing and improving the internationally recognized Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) program (www.sfiprogram.org). Across North America, more than 79 million hectares/195 million acres are certified to the SFI forest management standard, making it the largest single forest standard in the world.

SOURCE Sustainable Forestry Initiative Inc.