The dream of home ownership will soon become a reality for a local family, thanks to a Mount St. Helens eruption and a national effort by Weyerhaeuser and Habitat for Humanity.

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Employees from Weyerhaeuser Company's area operations are working with the Seattle/King County Habitat chapter to build a single family home for a Federal Way family. It is among more than 25 homes Weyerhaeuser is building to mark 25 years since Mount St. Helens erupted, spewing ash worldwide and leveling Weyerhaeuser forests in southwest Washington.

Weyerhaeuser announced "Project Habitat" last year in remembrance of the Mount St. Helens 1980 eruption -- as a $1 million campaign to build houses for families in 18 states and three Canadian provinces. The $1 million is being delivered to local Habitat for Humanity affiliates in grant dollars and packages of Weyerhaeuser lumber.

The house foundation is in place and the framing is done on the special Habitat house on 20th Avenue South in Federal Way. The Habitat house will be home to a family of five that came to America from Ethiopia.

Each day a new group of Weyerhaeuser volunteers arrive on site and work with the local habitat affiliate, the family, and other volunteers to construct the house.

"The draw for Weyerhaeuser employees is the opportunity to help a family realize the dream of home ownership," said Dan Rooth, senior information technology consultant for Weyerhaeuser and leader of the Federal Way Project Habitat. "Our employees and retirees are eager to roll up their sleeves and pound nails for a good cause. We expect to complete the house within a seven week period of time."

The Weyerhaeuser donation to the build includes a small package of lumber from Mount St. Helens, which will be used in a special, commemorative way in the home. "We're going to use the Mt. St. Helens wood in a special, visible place," Rooth said.

Weyerhaeuser planted 18 million seedlings after the eruption in one of the largest scale reforestation projects in history. Today these trees are 70 feet tall and growing so densely that thinning was needed to allow the hardiest trees room to grow to full maturity.

Weyerhaeuser celebrated the return of the working forest with the Project Habitat announcement held in May 2005 at the company's Forest Learning Center in Washington state. Located inside the 1980 blast zone, the Forest Learning Center is an interactive educational center that tells the story of how active forest management has jump started the forest ecosystem at Mount St. Helens. You can learn more about the eruption and recovery of Mount St. Helens at www.theforestreturns.com.

In Washington state, Weyerhaeuser employs about 7,500 people in family- wage jobs and manages more than 1.1 million acres of forestland, all certified to the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI)™ standard. Weyerhaeuser Company, one of the world's largest integrated forest products companies, was incorporated in 1900. In 2005, sales were $22.6 billion. It has offices or operations in 18 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/.

   For more information contact:
   Kate Tate 253-924-7250
   Frank Mendizabal 253-924-3357

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SOURCE: Weyerhaeuser Company

CONTACT: Kate Tate, +1-253-924-7250, or Frank Mendizabal,
+1-253-924-3357, both of Weyerhaeuser

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