Chart News Room

Print News Release

Weyerhaeuser Acts on Stronger Sustainable Forestry Requirements

PRNewswire-FirstCall
FEDERAL WAY, Wash.
Jan 10, 2005

Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE: WY) endorses and will act immediately on changes to the Sustainable Forestry Initiative® standard adopted today by the Sustainable Forestry Board.

  (Logo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040116/WYLOGO-a
          http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040116/WYLOGO-b )

The SFB is an independent non-profit board that sets the requirements to certify managed forests under the 10-year-old SFI standard. The changes were unanimously adopted by the board after a year-long process that included broad public review.

Steven R. Rogel, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Weyerhaeuser, is a member of the Sustainable Forestry Board. The board includes representatives of environmental organizations such as The Nature Conservancy, The Conservation Fund, and American Bird Conservancy as well as forest-products companies, universities and associations.

"The revisions demonstrate SFB's commitment to continuous improvement and maintain the SFI standard as one of the most progressive sustainable forestry standards in the world," Rogel said.

Though SFI-member companies may take up to one year to implement the changes, Rogel said Weyerhaeuser will begin immediately.

Among the revisions are stronger requirements that call on forest products companies to support conservation of old-growth forests, protect against invasive species, and participate in regional conservation planning.

Weyerhaeuser already has policies that cover those areas, however, Rogel said the changes will require the company to do more.

   *    Weyerhaeuser will continue to conserve old-growth forests through
        its commitment to not harvest old growth forests in the United
        States, coupled with its multi-stakeholder "Forest Strategy" in
        coastal British Columbia. The company is also working with provinces
        to conserve older forests in the boreal region of Canada.
   *    Weyerhaeuser will dedicate staff, continue its surveys for pests and
        disease, and step-up its program to stop the spread of invasive,
        exotic species.
   *    Weyerhaeuser will increase regional conservation planning efforts.
        The company has begun discussions with The Nature Conservancy to
        understand the Conservancy's eco-regional plans and how they fit
        with company goals.

The announcement affects all of Weyerhaeuser's U.S. managed forests, approximately 6.8 million acres (2.75 million hectares). Weyerhaeuser also manages about 500,000 acres of forests in Canada (200,000 hectares), mostly private, to the SFI standard. The rest are managed to the Canadian Standards Association standard. In addition, all of the company's forest holdings throughout the world are managed to an international environmental management standard known as ISO 14001.

Weyerhaeuser Company, one of the world's largest integrated forest products companies, was incorporated in 1900. In 2003, sales were $19.9 billion. It has offices or operations in 19 countries, with customers worldwide. Weyerhaeuser is principally engaged in the growing and harvesting of timber; the manufacture, distribution and sale of forest products; and real estate construction, development and related activities. Additional information about Weyerhaeuser's businesses, products and practices is available at http://www.weyerhaeuser.com/ .

The SFI program promotes sustainable forest management under a rigorous system of principles, objectives, and measures of performance. More information is available at http://www.aboutsfi.org/core.asp .

   For more information contact:

             Frank Mendizabal (media) 253-924-3357
             Kathy McAuley (analysts) 253-924-2058
Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040116/WYLOGO-a
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040116/WYLOGO-b
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com

SOURCE: Weyerhaeuser Company

CONTACT: Frank Mendizabal (media), +1-253-924-3357, or Kathy McAuley
(analysts), +1-253-924-2058, both of Weyerhaeuser Company

Web site: http://www.weyerhaeuser.com/

Top
Welcome to Weyerhaeuser's new website!

You appear to be using an older browser. This website is best viewed using the latest versions of Internet Explorer, Chrome, Safari, and Firefox. If you proceed without upgrading or switching browsers, you may not experience optimal navigation or page functionality. Thank you for your interest in Weyerhaeuser and we hope you enjoy your visit.

Update my browser now

×