Pat Kachura senior vice president for corporate responsibility at the Direct Marketing Association responds to an opinion piece in the Concord Monitor regarding New Hampshire movement towards establishing a do not mail registry.

Kachura's response:

The Direct Marketing Association and its members place a high priority on environmental stewardship. Forests and tree harvesting are managed better today than ever before. In the United States, nearly 1.4 billion trees are planted every year - exceeding the number harvested and contributing to an overall net growth of forests. Canada is a global leader in sustainable forest management and has a deforestation rate of zero. Furthermore, only one-quarter of Canada's forests are managed for commercial use, only one-half of one percent of these forests are harvested annually, and all harvested areas, by law, must be replanted. As a result, over 500 million seedlings are planted every year.

Far from being "wasteful," direct mail was responsible for contributing more than $3.8 billion in increased sales to the New Hampshire economy in 2006. In addition, direct mail is responsible for nearly 20,000 jobs in New Hampshire. Small and local businesses rely on direct mail to keep consumers informed, offer savings opportunities and grow their business.

Consumers do have a free and convenient way to manage their mail. This month, DMA announced significant changes to the 36-year-old Mail Preference Service to give consumers even greater control. The $1 verification fee was eliminated, and MPS was enhanced to offer consumers the ability to opt in or opt out of specific company mailing lists in addition to the existing ability to opt out of prospecting lists.

Consumers also can always contact companies directly to modify the frequency of communications. Additional information can be found at dmachoice.org.

DMA is aggressively encouraging all in the direct marketing community to do the right thing regarding consumer choice and environmental issues.