Established in 1995, the Sustainable Forest Management Network (SFM Network) is an incorporated, non-profit research organization based at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The SFM Network's mission is to: • Deliver an internationally-recognized, interdisciplinary program that undertakes relevant university-based research; • Develop networks of researchers, industry, government, Aboriginal, and non-government organization partners; • Offer innovative approaches to

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... transfer; and • Train scientists and advanced practitioners to meet the challenges of natural resource management. The SFM Network receives about 60% of its $7 million annual budget from the Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) Program, a Canadian initiative sponsored by the NSERC, SSHRC, and CIHR research granting councils. Other funding partners include the University of Alberta, governments, forest industries, Aboriginal groups, nongovernmental organizations, and the BIOCAP Canada Foundation (through the Sustainable Forest Management Network/BIOCAP Canada Foundation Joint Venture Agreement). KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE AND TECHNOLOGY EXTENSION PROGRAM The SFM Network completed approximately 300 research projects from 1995 -2004. These projects enhanced the knowledge and understanding of many aspects of the boreal forest ecosystem, provided unique training opportunities for both graduate and undergraduate students and established a network of partnerships across Canada between researchers, government, forest companies and Aboriginal communities. The SFM Network's research program was designed to contribute to the transition of the forestry sector from sustained yield forestry to sustainable forest management. Two key elements in this transition include: • Development of strategies and tools to promote ecological, economic and social sustainability, and • Transfer of knowledge and technology to inform policy makers and affect forest management practices. In order to accomplish this transfer of knowledge, the research completed by the Network must be provided to the Network Partners in a variety of forms. The KETE Program is developing a series of tools to facilitate knowledge transfer to their Partners. The Partners' needs are highly variable, ranging from differences in institutional arrangements or corporate philosophies to the capacity to interpret and implement highly technical information. An assortment of strategies and tools is required to facilitate the exchange of information across scales and to a variety of audiences. The KETE documents represent one element of the knowledge transfer process, and attempt to synthesize research results, from research conducted by the Network and elsewhere in Canada, into a SFM systems approach to assist foresters, planners and biologists with the development of alternative approaches to forest management planning and operational practices.