Vol.10 No.1 January 1999
On behalf of all my colleagues in the International Council and Executive Board of the International Union of Forestry Research Organizations (IUFRO), I would like to congratulate the Journal of Forest Engineering on its 10th year of successful publication. The Journal and its articles are widely distributed throughout the university, research and development sectors in many countries and it has always contributed significantly to our understanding of current issues and developments. In celebrating this past decade, the two special issues of the Journal will focus on a forward-look at forest engineering over the next decade. IUFRO itself is reviewing its own role and focus as we come into the new millennium and it is assisting the international policy processes that deal with forestry and forest products in their forward look.
IUFRO is one of the oldest international non-governmental collaborative organizations, having been founded in 1892. Although initially concentrated on European and north temperate forests and forestry research, since the early 1970s it has developed major interests in tropical forest research also. IUFRO has approximately 700 member institutions in 100 countries with 15,000 scientists. These work in 276 divisions, working parties, research groups and task forces covering virtually all researchable topics related to forests and forest products.
Many of the readers and contributors of this Journal are officers or members of IUFRO's research units. All bring their expertise and collaborative experience to the benefit of both organizations. IUFRO wishes the Journal of Forest Engineering every success in the next decade.
Jeff Burley
President, IUFRO
We are proud to bring you the first of two 10th Anniversary Issues of the Journal. Much has changed since 1989 when we tentatively produced the first issue containing modest four papers on twenty-five pages. While our vision at that time was to fill a void in the techical literature for those in the forest engineering discipline, we never anticipated the growth that has now been realised ten years later. This issue, containing almost one hundred and twenty pages, will be mailed to subscribers in thirty-four countries and on every continent of the world.
For this success, we must thank you, our subscribers, for the confidence you have placed in us over the years. We in turn thank all members of the Editorial Board, and the many other reviewers who have assisted them, for consistently maintaining the highest professional standards.
Lastly, we could not have come this far without the loyal support of the editorial office staff members, whose hard work, help and enthusiasm over the past ten years has made the production and management of the Journal possible. I thank them sincerely, and I thank them again on your behalf. We look forward to continuing to serve you, the forest engineering community , for many years to come.
Jeremy Rickards
Managing Editor