TOMAHAWK - Sustainability was the buzz word at the 5th annual Northwoods Research Summit.

The conference was held at Treehaven, where researchers and forestry workers talked about how harvesting forest products can add to the Northwoods economy.

Discussion wasn't limited to large commercial projects. Jan Schultz of the U.S. Forest Service gave a speech on how smaller market products like ginseng and leeks can be sustainably harvested.

"People that are interested in using these natural resources and maintaining these natural resources, there's a lot of opportunities out there," Schultz said.

But sustainability is limiting the forest industry when it's government regulated, according to Henry Schienebeck, executive director of Great Lakes Timber Professionals Assocation.

"What we'd like to have people understand is that the regulations really are having an effect on our daily lives without any real net gain in air quality or water quality," he said.

Schienebeck says those regulations are coming too fast for the industry to adapt and causing a loss of jobs.