Sustainable Forest Management

Weyerhaeuser manages forests for wood production as well as the ecosystem services they provide. These include clean water, habitat for fish and wildlife, and sites of cultural, historical, and scenic importance. See our Sustainable Forestry Policy for more information. We implement landscape-level forest management as part of our compliance with the Sustainable Forestry Initiative® standard.

Intensively Managed Forests Produce More Wood

On forestland that 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 still provide the wood fiber society needs.

In Uruguay, where we've planted trees on former grazing land, the first harvest began in 2005. All of our forestland in the United States and Southern Hemisphere has been harvested and regenerated at least once.

In Canada, We Use Less Intensive Methods

In Canada, we manage public forestland under long-term licenses. 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.

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.