Weyerhaeuser one step closer to North American reign

With its recent Longview Timber acquisition under its belt, Weyerhaeuser Company has positioned itself as one of North America's leading private sustainable forestry operations.

The company, which recently added 645,000 acres of forestland to its portfolio in Washington and Oregon, now manages 20.5 million acres of forestland in the U.S. and Canada that's been certified to the Sustainable Forestry Initiative standard.

"Weyerhaeuser is dedicated to industry leadership in forest stewardship and sustainability, and we will continue that leadership as we bring the recently acquired Longview Timber operations into our portfolio," said Tom Gideon, Weyerhaeuser's executive VP Timberlands. "All of Weyerhaeuser's North American forests will continue to be certified to the Sustainable Forestry Initiative® standard, which ensures that our forest management practices meet a broad spectrum of social, economic and environmental requirements."

Among the factors responsible for an SFI certification are protection of water resources, biodiversity, fish and wildlife habitats, at-risk species and renewable forest resources. SFI-certified acreage has grown by a whopping 71% since 2007, though globally, only 10% of forests bear this standard (compared to 100% of Weyerhaeuser's).

According to Gideon, Weyerhaeuser has been SFI-certified for several years in North America, and it recently achieved full certification in Uruguay this year.