Sustainable Forest Management

We manage forests for wood production as well as the ecosystem services they provide, including clean air and water, habitat for fish and wildlife, and sites of cultural, historical and scenic importance. We implement landscape-level forest management as part of our compliance with the Sustainable Forestry Initiative® standard.

• Intensively Managed Forests Produce More Wood
• Key Timberlands Statistics
• Forest Management in the United States and Canada
• International Forest Management

INTENSIVELY MANAGED FORESTS PRODUCE MORE WOOD

On forestland we manage in the United States and Southern Hemisphere, we use scientific principles and environmentally responsible techniques to enhance the forest's ability to grow wood quickly. By planting selectively-bred seedlings, controlling invasive species and other competing vegetation, fertilizing the soil, and thinning the forest before final harvest, we can grow wood on this land at two to three times the rate it grows in comparable unmanaged forests. Intensive management on our lands allows other lands to be less intensively managed and together provide the wood fiber and other forest resources society needs.

KEY TIMBERLANDS STATISTICS

FOREST MANAGEMENT IN THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA

WE REFOREST WHERE WE HARVEST

In 2011, the size of Weyerhaeuser's average clearcut in the United States and Canada was 89 acres. We reforest these areas by planting seedlings or through natural regeneration. We generally plant at the first opportunity following harvest.

In 2011, we replanted 98 percent of harvested areas in the U.S. within two years of harvest. Within one year, 74 percent was replanted. All of our forestland in the United States has been harvested and regenerated at least once.

In Canada, where we manage public forestland under long-term licenses, we rely more on natural regeneration. Government requirements prescribe much of our forest practices, including harvest rates and types of trees harvested. We apply less intensive methods on this public land, fertilizing less often and relying more on seed trees and natural root sprouting to reforest. In harvest areas where replanting is done, more than 91 percent of the acres are replanted within two years of harvest. In areas where we rely on natural regeneration, this is typically achieved within five years of harvest. These methods are better suited to local conditions and climate. Because trees in Canada grow more slowly, we maintain sustainable harvest rates by harvesting less frequently—an average of once every 80 to 100 years compared with once every 20 to 50 years in the United States.

COOPERATIVE LICENSE WITH FIRST NATIONS

In October 2010, Weyerhaeuser Company Limited joined with several First Nations, the Government of Ontario, and other forest companies and contractors in signing an historic shareholder-managed Sustainable Forest Licence covering the Kenora Forest. Under the new SFL, First Nations and industry shareholders take over management of forestry operations on the 1.2 million-hectare Kenora Forest through a limited partnership.

Miitigoog LP is responsible for all forest management aspects of the Kenora SFL including planning, certification, compliance, road construction and maintenance, and silviculture. Participants include Wabaseemoong Independent Nations, Naotkamegwanning First Nation, Ochiichagwe’Babigo’Ining First Nation, Weyerhaeuser, Kenora Forest Products, Wincrief Forestry Products, Kenora Independent Loggers, and other companies with forestry operations on the Kenora Forest. The new arrangement also provides an entry mechanism for additional First Nations who would like to join the new company.

INTERNATIONAL FOREST MANAGEMENT

Uruguay

Our forest operations in Uruguay are planted on grasslands that were primarily used for cattle grazing. The first harvest on our lands in Uruguay began in 2005. We protect any stands of native forests that existed when we purchased the plantation lands.

Our mills in the Southern Hemisphere (Uruguay and Brazil) use wood fiber from only our own plantations or other plantations nearby. For example, we buy the raw material for our Lyptus® premium hardwood, which is produced by our joint-venture sawmill in Brazil, from plantations located on the eastern coast, far from the Amazon rainforest. These plantations, owned by others, are interspersed among indigenous forests so that one-third of the area is kept in native reserves, dedicated to environmental protection.

Our procurement standard precludes the purchase of wood products from forests at risk, which are defined in our Wood Procurement Policy.

China

In November 2012, we exited from our joint venture of timberland management in China. We sold our portion of the venture to our partner, Yonghan Forestry Company; the venture is still in operation, but we are no longer engaged.