Special Sites

Most of the forests we manage include places with unique environmental, cultural, historical or recreational value. We manage these areas to protect their unique qualities. Protecting forests with exceptional conservation value is part of implementing the Sustainable Forestry Initiative® standard, and protecting places with special biological significance is required by the Sustainable Forest Management Standard of the Canadian Standards Association. See Certification Standards for more information.

On our land in the United States, we locate and protect imperiled species and natural communities. We preserve selected sites, often partnering with government agencies and conservation groups through conservation agreements and other means. In Washington state alone, as of 2007, we have contributed more than 100,000 acres to conservation initiatives through land exchanges, sales, donations and conservation easements.

100,000

Acres contributed to conservation initiatives in Washington as of 2007

In North Carolina, Weyerhaeuser agreed in 2000 not to disturb 5,650 acres of company land in eight counties to give conservation groups time to raise funds. These lands contain old-growth wetland forests, red-cockaded woodpeckers, bobcat, black bear and neotropical songbirds.

Since then, the North Carolina Coastal Land Trust and The Nature Conservancy secured grants to buy land or conservation easements, which prevent development. Weyerhaeuser also donated easements and is preserving some land through the state's natural heritage registry. The protected land includes the site of the Weyerhaeuser Cool Springs Environmental Education Center, which hosts more than 3,000 students and adults each year.

The Nature Conservancy and Weyerhaeuser have cooperated on a number of projects beginning in 1976. In early 2007, the organizations accelerated their collaboration with a five-year program and $1 million in funding from Weyerhaeuser. The program focuses on fostering conservation and sustainable management of biological diversity in managed forests. Through the agreemetn, Weyerhaeuser has funded projects in Arkansas, Mississippi, Oregon and Washington.

The Conservancy considers Oregon’s Willamette Valley to be one of eight critically endangered ecoregions in the United States. Less than 1.5 percent of the valley is protected and managed for biological diversity. Weyerhaeuser is contributing $90,000 to support the Conservancy’s ongoing efforts to address these gaps. Also in Oregon, Weyerhaeuser has agreements with The Nature Conservancy to manage six conservation easements on Weyerhaeuser land totaling 719 acres. The company consults on management of an additional 638 acres to help protect unique ecological sites. One of the unique sites being protected is a high-elevation forested meadow containing several rare plants, including the bog anemone and elegant lily. Another site has populations of Kincaid lupine, a plant that is habitat for the rare Fender's blue butterfly. A third example is a coastal bog that provides many ecological functions. In 2004 and 2005, the Weyerhaeuser Company Foundation donated a total of $100,000 to The Nature Conservancy to assist in the conservancy's site management.

In Mississippi, the mission of The Nature Conservancy is to find, protect and maintain the best examples of natural communities, ecosystems and endangered species in the state. To help achieve these goals, Weyerhaeuser is working with The Nature Conservancy on the Tombigbee River Watershed Program, in the Old Cove area of Webster County, and in a partnership to protect unique land on the Buttahatchie River. This land is in the northeast region of the state, near the Mississippi-Alabama state line. The protected area includes dramatic sandstone bluffs that drop 30 to 40 feet to the river's floodplain.

The Old Cove area is located in a 12,000-acre forested landscape that includes the headwaters of three rivers, the ecologically unique Shelton Mountain and at least 12 rare or little-known invertebrate species. The 350-acre Old Cove area is inside a large working forest used to produce timber for lumber and other forest products. Several rare species have been documented there, including Maple Leaf Viburnum, Star Vine and Yellow Lady’s Slippers. Read more about the Old Cove study.

Across Canada, our planning and harvesting guidelines protect areas of high ecological, historical or cultural value. Features such as mineral licks, grave sites, old cabins, and hawk and eagle nests are identified and protected. This process to identify and protect sites includes consultation with aboriginal communities and the general public, review of plans by resource-management professionals in government, and identification in the field by our staff and contractors.