The tiny seedlings Weyerhaeuser planted at Mount St. Helens after it erupted 25 years ago now stand 70-feet tall and are part of an ambitious campaign to shelter at least 25 families across the United States and Canada.

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

Steven R. Rogel, Weyerhaeuser chairman, president and chief executive officer, will announce the initiative to 200 dignitaries and guests expected to gather today at Mount St. Helens. The event marking 25 years since one of the most powerful volcanic eruptions in North America will be held at the Forest Learning Center, which is operated on the mountain by Weyerhaeuser, the Washington Department of Transportation and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.

"Weyerhaeuser decided 25 years ago to give this forest a fresh start," Rogel said. "Today we are partnering with Habitat for Humanity and our customers to give people in need a new beginning.

"This gift is possible in great part because of the strong linkage between our timberlands base and our network of mills across the United States and Canada," Rogel said. "The integration of our timberlands and our mills positions us to serve customers efficiently. We will use this same integrated approach to provide lumber for families in need of shelter across the United States and Canada."

Weyerhaeuser has owned forestland at Mount St. Helens for more than 100 years and is the largest private landowner in the area. The company suffered extensive losses in the 1980 eruption, but just months later began planting 18 million seedlings, each by hand. The trees have grown quickly in years since, mulched by a blanket of ash to deter weeds and hold moisture.

Today these conifers -- Douglas-fir, noble fir and lodgepole pine -- are growing so densely that thinning is needed to ensure the heartiest have the sunlight, nutrients and space needed to grow to maturity. Weyerhaeuser began thinning operations this spring and is sawing the trees into lumber at the company sawmill a few miles away.

William R. Corbin, Weyerhaeuser executive vice president for International and Industrial Wood Products, is championing the $1 million "Project Habitat" campaign as a way to illustrate the role this valuable resource plays in our communities.

"Wood is a renewable and vital resource that provides shelter and products people need for everyday living," Corbin said. "Project Habitat is a powerful opportunity for Weyerhaeuser and our employees in cooperation with our suppliers and customers to change lives and help renew the communities where we live and work."

Corbin said the $1 million will be delivered in grant dollars from the Weyerhaeuser Company Foundation and in packages of Weyerhaeuser lumber. He said Weyerhaeuser employees will work with Habitat for Humanity affiliates in 18 states and three Canadian provinces to complete 25 homes by May 2006.

"Employee volunteerism has always been strong at Weyerhaeuser," Corbin said, "but energy for this project is already beyond our expectations. There is real zeal for this idea of building at least 25 Habitat homes to recognize the return of the working forest 25 years after the eruption.

"For many of us, this project has special meaning because every home will include some wood from Mount St. Helens," Corbin said.

Editor's Notes:

1. Weyerhaeuser will release a list of communities where Habitat homes will be completed shortly.

  2. For electronic photos, call 503-588-0311.  Selection includes:

  -- Weyerhaeuser forester measuring 70-foot trees planted 25 years ago
     after the 1980 eruption;
  -- Forest Learning Center as it sits on a bluff in front of Mount St.
     Helens;
  -- Boundary line showing dense Weyerhaeuser forest on one side and the
     national monument (now dotted with sparse shrubbery and small trees) on
     the other side;
  -- Harvester machine thinning trees in the 1980 blast zone;
  -- Lumber mill operations showing Mount St. Helens trees being made into
     lumber to build homes;
  -- Children playing and learning at Forest Learning Center.

Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE: WY), one of the world's largest integrated forest products companies, was incorporated in 1900. In 2004, sales were $22.7 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/.

Habitat for Humanity International, based in Americus, Ga., is an ecumenical Christian ministry dedicated to eliminating poverty housing. By the end of 2005, Habitat will have built its 200,000th house and more than one million people will be living in Habitat homes they helped build and are buying through no-profit, zero-interest mortgages. www.habitat.org

  For more information contact:
   Jackie Lang 503-705-0007
   Frank Mendizabal 253-924-3357

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: Jackie Lang, +1-503-705-0007, or Frank Mendizabal 253-924-3357,
both of Weyerhaeuser Company

Web site: http://www.habitat.org/

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