Weyerhaeuser Now One of World's Largest Sustainable Forestry Operations

With the completed acquisition of Longview Timber's approximately 645,000 acres of forestland in Washington state and Oregon in July, Weyerhaeuser Co., Federal Way, Wash., now owns or manages approximately 20.5 million acres of forestland in the U.S. and Canada. The latest acquisition makes Weyerhaeuser one of North America's—and the world's—largest private sustainable forestry operations.

"Weyerhaeuser is dedicated to industry leadership in forest stewardship and sustainability, and we will continue that leadership as we bring the recently acquired Longview Timber operations into our portfolio," said Tom Gideon, Weyerhaeuser's EVP of Timberlands. "All of Weyerhaeuser's North American forests will continue to be certified to the Sustainable Forestry Initiative standard, which ensures that our forest management practices meet a broad spectrum of social, economic, and environmental requirements."

Kathy Abusow, president and CEO of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, explained that "by successfully achieving independent, third-party certification of its lands to the SFI standard, Weyerhaeuser has demonstrated a strong commitment to responsible forestry and to the communities that depend on a variety of forest benefits."

Gideon added that "we achieved 100% certification in our North American operations several years ago, and this year we also achieved full certification for our forests in Uruguay. It's a standard we've set for all of our operations. And while we're proud of our accomplishments, we continue to focus on continuous improvement as one of the world's preeminent sustainability leaders."

TAPPI
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