Sierra Pacific Industries owns and carefully manages nearly 1.7 million acres of forest land in California, and over 230,000 acres in Washington. Harvested areas are replanted within a year, ensuring sustainable forests for future generations. To assure that we’ll always have forests in the future, we plant an average of six million seedlings each year. It’s a policy that’s not just good for the environment, it’s good for business.

All harvest methods are subject to the scrutiny of the world’s most stringent regulations. All of our forest lands are under the stewardship of professional foresters who assess and determine the most appropriate harvest method for the landscape.

Our investment in state-of-the-art equipment — including computerized scanning equipment for our mills — helps us figure out how to cut each individual log, to ensure the highest yield and least waste.

Modern harvesting for minimal impact
Modern harvesting techniques have all but eliminated dangerous conditions, wasted wood, and excessive soil disturbance. Today, methods are used to harvest trees with the least amount of impact, including aerial lifting to minimize ground disturbance, cable systems for steep slopes and mechanical, ground-based harvesting.

Selective thinning is used to create more open space for hearty trees to grow and to clear out underbrush for protection against catastrophic wildfires.

Regeneration Methods
We employ a number of silvicultural prescriptions on our lands.  Foresters, wildlife biologists, plant ecologists, archaeologists, and others work in teams to arrive at the best silvicultural prescription for each acre we harvest.  Even-age management is the best prescription for those stands that have shade-intolerant species such as pine or Douglas-fir.  In other cases, we utilize different forestry prescriptions such as thinning to improve tree growth and reducing the threat from wildfires.

Some of the forests that Sierra Pacific has acquired were heavily logged in the past by their previous landowners and need greater assistance to become healthy and productive. Crews from decades past took only the biggest and best trees – ponderosa and sugar pines – leaving the slower growing firs and cedars. Careful monitoring of these areas shows that remaining trees aren't growing to their capacity. Scientists tell us the best strategy is to start over again, planting these areas with a healthy mix of trees that can resist wildfire, disease, and drought.

Our forest management includes extensive monitoring for fish, wildlife, plant species, and water quality.  We incorporate the latest science in our practices and monitor the effects of land management with a wide array of resources.  These studies help us assure that we are in compliance with state and federal laws and regulations in place to protect these valuable resources.  We meet or exceed these toughest-in-the-nation regulations and have always made protection of the environment the cornerstone of our forest management policies.