Crown Pacific Portrayal Flawed

I want to express some concern about your July 8 story on our company: “Crown Pacific altered an entire industry.”

The story contains errors and demonstrates a lack of understanding of the changes in the timber industry.

The most important error is your acceptance of speculation without attribution: “Some believe Crown Pacific snatched up Inland Northwest forests solely to supply its log export business.” Crown Pacific has not exported any timber from its inland operations and has no plans to do so. All timber cut from our inland lands has been processed in mills in the Northwest.

The second error is that we no longer own any land in Okanogan County and would have confirmed that to your reporter if he had inquired.

As troublesome as these errors is the failure to see the changes at Crown Pacific in the context of the timber industry. When Crown Pacific acquired DAW and W-I Forest Products assets, their seven mills were inefficient and dependent on timber purchased from public lands. The supply of timber from public lands has declined sharply since 1993 and its cost has increased. Older, inefficient mills cannot compete in this environment.

Crown Pacific has realigned its lumber manufacturing capacity to match more closely the sustained yield of timber available from companyowned land. It also has invested millions of dollars in its mills to improve efficiency and ensure their survival.

The reduction in employment in the forest products industry has been painful for the people who have lost their jobs. When we have closed mills, we have worked to create opportunities for continued local employment.

We regret the disruption to communities and individual families caused by mill closures. At the same time, we believe that investing in efficient mills with adequate timber supplies is the best long-run course for both our shareholders and the communities around our mills.

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