Change at the Journal
Passages
On July 1, 2000 Jeremy Rickards, founder of the (International) Journal of Forest Engineering officially ended his tenure as Managing Editor. The success of his efforts in developing and operating the Journal for 11 years is a tribute to his vision, resourcefulness and tenacity. This issue contains a paper prepared in honour of Jeremy Rickards. The text of Dr. Björheden's dedication of that paper speaks to Jeremy Rickard's other qualities: his warmth and caring and his focus on people. We are grateful for his willingness to continue to contribute to the Journal in his honorary role as Founding Editor and as a member of the Editorial Board.
This year also marks other passages. Dr. Bill Kerruish and Dr. Li Guanda both have retired from the Editorial Board after long years of service. They are owed a debt of gratitude for their work evaluating and shaping manuscripts published over the last decade and will be missed.
Beginnings
Endings usually also signal beginnings - July 1, 2000, signalled the beginning of my term as Managing Editor. In addition, I am very pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Robert A. Douglas of the University of Canterbury (New Zealand) to the Editorial Board. His long and varied experience in road and transportation engineering and his uncompromising scientific rigour will be valuable assets to the Journal.
Changing Subject Scope
Readers will note a number of new items in this volume, arising from an ongoing strategic evaluation and planning excercise. The full results of this will become evident in the next two or three issues. In this issue, one of the key changes is focussing the technical scope of the Journal's work. Partly a result of an analysis of what we have (and have not) published in the past and of what we should focus on as an area of strength, the emphasis on publishing papers on engineering approaches to improving the sustainability of forest operations practices will increase. Comments on these changes are welcome.
Broader Range of Format
The Journal is a medium that links scientists, practising professionals and learners in forest engineering all over the world. While the new scope statement of the Journal provides a tighter focus on the subject matter to be covered, there will be a broader range of kinds of material published. We will publish calls for papers for relevant conferences, advertisements for academic positions in forest engineering and short profiles of research and development organizations and groups to name a few. Examples of most of these are found in this volume. The intent is to provide a diverse and vibrant instrument to foster communication and exchange between members our far-flung community.
The Journal has operated a web page (http://www.lib.unb.ca/Texts/JFE/Index.htm) for nearly five years and this medium will become increasingly important in accomplishing the Journal's goals. It already contains calls for papers, academic job ads and other important news items for the forest engineering community. A search engine makes it possible to find titles and abstracts for all papers published since the Journal's inception. Full text versions of articles can be downloaded free following a delay of several years after publication. Your suggestions and propsals for content and format are welcome.
Administrative Changes
A number of administrative details have been streamlined. Editorial guidelines for submitted papers have been modified to simplify a double-blind review process. Subscription deadline dates have been formalized and reprint prices listed.
Some things have not changed: The Journal will continue recognizing the value of its contributors' work by maintaining its policy of providing 25 reprints free to corresponding authors and of not charging page fees for publication.
Cover Design Contest
An item of interest in this edition is a call for submissions for a new cover design. The blue tree has served the Journal well during the last decade, but it speaks only to the physical context in which forest Engineering occurs and does not say anything about engineering itself. Our hope is to interest our readers in thinking about what might simultaneously symbolize the beauty and dynamism of the forest context and the purposefulness, rigour and practicality of the profession.
Whither now?
Our principal aim in publishing the Journal is to provide a way to disseminate high quality scholarship in forest engineering from around the world to the international forest engineering community. To achieve this goal we must meet two conditions: Firstly we must be clear and explicit about what "high quality scholarship in forest engineering" is and unrelenting in our expectations. We must, secondly, effectively reach out to researchers, professional practitioners and learners in this field all over the world. Over the next year or two, the Journal team, with input from you, will work to renew itself and its practices to focus on these two challenges.
Pierre Zundel
Managing Editor