Tree Huggers

The state's forest products industry learns that conservation is good for the environment and good for company profits, too

By Kevin Brafford

The next time you buy a dozen glazed donuts, be keenly aware that you're helping to sweeten the coffers of the tree industry. Surprised? The box the donuts came in is made of paper, and paper comes from trees. Everyone knows that. What you may not know is that the glaze adorning the top of the donut is produced in part from wood fibers.

In a nutshell, says Marc Finlayson, “sometimes when people eat their favorite donut, they're eating a tree.”

Finlayson is the North Carolina communications manager for Weyerhaeuser, one of the world's largest integrated paper and forest products companies. The company operates 16 manufacturing facilities or business offices across the state and employs more than 3,000.

Chances are if the glaze on your donut didn't come from a seedling grown by Weyerhaeuser, it came from one grown by International Paper. IP is one of the world's largest integrated paper and forest products companies, and also has a major North Carolina presence, employing more than 4,000 in 20 facilities.

Both Weyerhaeuser (in Plymouth and New Bern) and International Paper (in Riegelwood and Roanoke Rapids) operate two major mills in the state. And while the bulk of their pulp, paper and wood products are exported, the companies' tremendous financial impact mostly remains within the state. Lumber and wood products companies in North Carolina now employ about 44,000 people. Including those who work with wood products of all types, including the furniture industry, employment is about 145,000 — or about one of every six manufacturing jobs — representing an annual payroll approaching $3.5 billion.

“It is more significant than most people realize,” says Chris Caldwell, International Paper's regional public affairs manager, who's based in Raleigh. “It's an industry that often goes unnoticed.”

Lay of the Land

Weyerhaeuser and International Paper have taken turns through the years carrying the title as “North Carolina's largest private landowner.”

Now, however, the trophy belongs to International Paper, which acquired Champion International in a deal finalized earlier this year. The transaction increased International Paper's holdings in the state by 209,000 acres to a total of more than 880,000 acres. Weyerhaeuser currently owns 565,000 acres in the state.

The bulk of the land for both companies is used, of course, to produce the timber that becomes the raw material for the sawmills and pulp and paper manufacturing facilities.

Scott Grimes is the manager of International Paper's vast Riegelwood Mill, a 1,200-acre “campus” about a half-hour west of Wilmington that employs 1,000. The mill manufactures three lines of paper products: bristols, which are used for “high end” printing jobs such as trading cards and book covers; bleached board, which is used for juice cartons and french fry containers; and pine and hardwood market pulp, which is used for copy and bond paper.

Mostly, however, Grimes' mill exports its products. About 40 trucks per day, seven days a week, each carrying some 22 tons of market pulp, make the trip from the mill to the Port of Wilmington. “Most of it goes to Europe,” Grimes says, “and a limited amount goes to Asia.”

Weyerhaeuser's Plymouth facility, with 1,400 employees and five paper machines, is the largest of its kind in the eastern United States. “It's been there since the 1930s,” Finlayson says, “and Weyer-haeuser bought it in 1957.” Its market pulp has a variety of uses, including that which produces corrugated packaging. “Plymouth is primarily a domestic mill,” says Finlayson, “while about three-fourths of our product from the New Bern facility (which employs about 500) is exported.”

The paper and forest products industry in the United States ships more than $200 billion worth of products annually.

Good Corporate Citizens

Being major manufacturers in the state comes with major responsibilities. Chief among them for Weyerhaeuser and International Paper is a standard of conduct adopted by the American Forest & Paper Association in 1994.

That October, the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) program was born. It calls upon members to use environmentally responsible practices that promote the protection of wildlife, plants, soil, air and water quality to ensure the future of our nation's forests.

“Responsible forest companies don't just manage our forests to produce healthy trees,” says Steven R. Rogel, chairman, president and CEO of Weyerhaeuser. “We manage them for soil conservation, air and water quality, wildlife and fish habitat and cultural, historic and aesthetic values. We manage about 70,000 of our 565,000 acres of North Carolina forestland for values other than the commercial production of timber.”

Both companies are stringent with regard to waste. Every inch of every log that's brought to the sawmill is used. Additionally, approximately two-thirds of the energy necessary to run the pulp and paper mills is generated from the manufacturing process itself.

In addition, an estimated 40 percent of the wood fibers needed to manufacture paper products is obtained from recycled wastepaper. “As an industry, we've been trying to do the right things all along,” says Grimes. “We've learned how to be on the cutting edge of being good stewards of the environment.”

Bill Holman, secretary of the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources, says the companies should be commended.

“They're manning their own lands so that the forest resources will be there in perpetuity,” he says. “SFI was an industry initiative, but its principles are ones that we support.”

Finlayson says it's a matter of common sense and common decency. “Ultimately, it comes down to understanding that you operate at the public's sufferance,” he says. “If you don't meet the public's expectations of how you should conduct yourself as a business, several things can happen — and none of them are good. One, people won't work there. Two, people won't buy your products, and three, they won't buy your stock.”

Both companies' commitment to good corporate citizenship continues to expand. Earlier this year, Weyerhaeuser agreed to manage about 8,000 acres of its North Carolina land for conservation, not timber. And Holman's office is working with International Paper on an initiative to protect a creek in Brunswick County.

“What Weyerhaeuser did last summer and what we're soon announcing with International Paper, both will count toward Gov. (Jim) Hunt's goal of conserving a million acres of open space over the next 10 years,” says Holman. “And we're really pleased to have strong corporate support for that goal.”

An Eye Toward Safety

Weyerhaeuser, founded in Tacoma, Wash., celebrated its 100th birthday on Jan. 18. It has operated continuously in North Carolina since 1957 when it purchased the North Carolina Pulp Co. in Plymouth from the Kieckhefer family.

Much has changed through the years. Advances in technology have increased production and streamlined the manufacturing process. Those technological advances, coupled with increased awareness, also have heightened safety at both companies.

Workers at Weyerhaeuser's New Bern mill achieved one million hours without a lost time accident on Oct. 2. “We have hundreds of workers in an industrial setting, with hazards like moving machinery and equipment, and heavy or hot objects to handle,” says Rodger Anger, the mill's vice president. “For our people to have worked safely for one million hours is a high standard.”

“You've got to create and maintain an environment where people don't get hurt,” says International Paper's Grimes. “We've become very efficient — we've had to. Margins across the industry have become tighter. Paper products today are not any more expensive than they used to be. It's become survival of the fittest.”

The companies are nationally recognized for their “fitness.” Fortune magazine's annual corporate reputation survey ranked Weyerhaeuser as No. 2 and International Paper as No. 4 overall among forest and paper product companies. Kimberly-Clark was No. 1, Mead was No. 3 and Georgia-Pacific was No. 5.

“The more we learn, the better performers we are,” says Finlayson, “and will continue to be.”


Audubon Society Honors Weyerhaeuser's Cool Springs Forest
Residents have been singing its praises since it opened four years ago. Now, the National Audubon Society is doing likewise. Weyerhaeuser's Cool Springs Environmental Education Forest in New Bern has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) in North Carolina — one of the first 10 sites in the state to be so honored.

Cool Springs is 1,700 acres of mixed pine and hardwood and bottomland hardwood forest on a triangular piece of land between the Neuse River and Swift Creek — about six miles upriver from New Bern. According to Walker Golder, the Audubon Society's IBA coordinator for the state, it is an important breeding and foraging habitat for many species of migratory songbirds.

These include the Blue Grosbeak, the Summer Tanager and more than 20 kinds of warblers. Such birds are known as neotropical migrants, because they spend part of the year in tropical climates near the equator and part of the year in temperate climates such as eastern North Carolina.

IBA dates to Europe in the 1980s and has spread to North and South America, Africa and Asia. The National Audubon Society, in concert with the American Bird Conservancy, began administering the program in the United States in 1995. IBA programs are now ongoing in 30 states, and their purpose is to identify sites that are important to bird populations and diversity, and work toward their long-term conservation. Sites can be privately owned, such as Cool Springs, or can be part of state or federal lands.

“One of the goals of the IBA program is to educate the public about birds and the importance of habitat conservation,” says Golder. “We can collect valuable data at IBA sites, and we strive to work cooperatively with landowners and land managers, such as Weyerhaeuser, so that what we can learn can be shared and the program can grow.”

Jeff Hall, the environmental educator at Cool Springs, says Weyerhaeuser adjusts its forestry activities on site to help conserve and enhance foraging and breeding habitats of the neo-tropicals. “When I catch a bright red glimpse of the Summer Tanager flying through the pines, or hear the distinctive call of the Prothonotary Warbler,” he says, “I'm proud that we manage these acres with the needs of the birds in mind.”

Since its opening, Cool Springs has hosted more than 10,000 students. The 1,700-acre site includes the Environmental Education Center, which is open by appointment only, daily. There is no admission fee. Tours are offered for groups of 10 or more. The accompanying Red House Conference Center is available for groups of 30 or less and features slide shows and educational presentations. It has limited kitchen facilities.


IP Teaches Students How to `Love A Tree'
Nearly 195,000 fifth-graders in North Carolina enjoyed a special day this spring when they participated in International Paper's fifth annual “Love A Tree” environmental education program. They received kits created by IP and the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources. The kits were designed, produced and delivered at no cost to the schools by IP. Since the program's inception, it has served approximately 780,000 fifth-graders — more than half of the state's fifth-graders.

“Since it started in 1996, it's been a great public-private partnership between state government, other environmental organizations and International Paper in sharing information about the state's forest, wildlife and ecology,” says International Paper spokesman Chris Caldwell.

In their “Love A Tree” boxes, students found a 52-page activity workbook, bluebird trading cards and an easy-to-assemble bluebird nest box. Students then built their own nest box — part of the program's mission to raise awareness of natural systems and promote environmental stewardship. “International Paper's commitment to North Carolina's schools through the “Love A Tree” program has served as a valuable teaching resource for the past five years,” says Phil Kirk, chairman of the State Board of Education.

DENR Secretary Bill Holman says, “This type of partnership can help to prepare young North Carolinians for the critical task of protecting our state's environment and preserving our quality of life for both present and future generations.” 

COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL. This article first appeared in the November 2000 issue of the North Carolina magazine.

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