Plum Creek completes Montana sale

Seattle-based Plum Creek Timber company announced it has completed the final phase of its sale of western Montana forestlands to The Nature Conservancy and The Trust for Public Land.

The company said it received $89 million in cash for approximately 70,000 acres of land.

The sale was completed in three phases for a total of 312,000 acres at a total of $489 million. The previous two phases were completed in 2008 and 2009.

The agreement is part of an effort to keep the forests in productive timber management and protect the area’s clean water and abundant fish and wildlife habitat, while promoting continued public access to these lands for fishing, hiking, hunting and other recreational pursuits.

A condition of the agreement provides for continued timber harvesting on some of these lands to help supply Plum Creek mills with wood fiber for up to 15 years. This harvesting is third-party certified as sustainable forestry.

Plum Creek is the nation’s largest and most geographically diverse private landowner with more than 7 million acres of timberlands in major timber producing regions of the United States and 10 wood products manufacturing facilities in the Northwest.