The new board members, announced during the 2010 SFI Annual Conference in Vancouver, are:
- John M. Hagan III, President, Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences;
- Stewart Hardacre, President and Chief Operating Office, Habitat for Humanity Canada; and
- Charles Tattersall (Tat) Smith Jr., Professor, Faculty of Forestry, University of Toronto.

SFI Inc.'s 18-member board represents environmental, social and economic sectors equally to meet the many needs of forests and communities. Hagan joins the board's environmental chamber, and Hardacre and Smith are part of the social chamber. Current board members include representatives of environmental, professional and academic groups, independent loggers, family forest landowners, public officials, labor and the forest products sector.

"The new board members bring a broad range of knowledge and add depth to the multi-disciplinary SFI board," said SFI President and CEO Kathy Abusow. "They are all proven leaders and their expertise includes research in biodiversity, communities and bioenergy, and an ability to bring together diverse partners to achieve tangible results."

SFI Board Chair Marvin Brown, who is state forester in Oregon, said the board will gain a great deal from its new members during what has become a critical time for third-party forest certification. "They will join a board already committed to a goal of ensuring the SFI program has strong integrity, is grounded in science and research, and is based on conservation and community collaboration," he said. "The result is a program that will continue to be recognized globally as supporting responsible forestry."

In 2008, while he was dean of the University of Toronto's Faculty of Forestry, Smith led a workshop that brought together experts on sustainable biomass production, resulting in recommendations and changes in the SFI 2010-2014 Standard, which was introduced at the start of 2010. "SFI for me is where the rubber meets the road," he said. "We have often tested our environmental research by seeing how well it meets SFI standard requirements. The new SFI standard is more sensitive to the bioeconomy, and I'm keen to take this further as a member of the board."

Stewart Hardacre, who joined Habitat for Humanity Canada in 2008, said he welcomed the opportunity to work more closely with SFI Inc. The SFI program and its participants have supported the work of various Habitat affiliates in Canada and the United States by volunteering time and donating resources for projects that include the first Habitat home on a First Nations reserve in Canada and the first Habitat homes certified to the Built Green Canada and the ANSI/ICC 700-2008: National Green Building Standard green rating systems. "Habitat for Humanity Canada and SFI both are grass-roots organizations that rely on collaboration with diverse partners to make a difference in our communities," Hardacre said.

Hagan, whose work with the non-profit Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences in Manomet, Mass., has helped transform how the forest sector thinks about protecting biodiversity, said he looks forward to helping the SFI program achieve its goals. "As an environmental research organization, Manomet is committed to having unbiased science used by decision makers," he said. "Science is a powerful tool for helping the forest sector achieve and balance society's economic, social, and environmental values. SFI shares this same commitment to the application of solid science for the public good. I'm honored to have the chance to contribute Manomet's experience with the practical application of science to the service of the SFI program."