Threatened and Endangered Species

Across the United States and Canada, hundreds of species of plants and animals are protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act or the Canadian Species at Risk Act. Forests that Weyerhaeuser owns or manages provide habitat for a number of these species. Some of the threatened or endangered species that inhabit areas near or within our U.S. timberlands include the northern spotted owl, the marbled murrelet, a number of salmon species, bull trout and steelhead trout in the Pacific Northwest, and the red-cockaded woodpecker, gopher tortoise, Red Hills salamander and American burying beetle in the Southeast.

Where these species are present, we design our forest-management practices to avoid harming them. This includes following all applicable state, provincial and federal laws. We also engage in cooperative research to expand our understanding of the needs of these species.

We have formal habitat conservation plans for three threatened or endangered species in the United States. These long-term plans minimize and mitigate negative effects on threatened and endangered species from forestry or other land-use activities.

• Northern spotted owl in Oregon and Washington

  On our 208,100-acre tree farm near Coos Bay, Ore., we manage our forests in planned patterns of reserves and harvest areas to enable owls to disperse—that is, move from one location to another. This complements areas protected for owl nesting and feeding on adjacent publicly owned forests. In Washington, we manage forests to protect spotted owls, but not under a formal habitat conservation plan.

• American burying beetle in Oklahoma and Arkansas

  Our forests provide habitat preferred by these beetles, and under our plan, we adjust our practices on 35,535 acres to conserve them by limiting the acres harvested and minimizing soil disturbance.

• The Red Hills salamander in Alabama

  Our forests provide 1,100 acres of salamander habitat. Under the plan, we leave forested buffer strips and use selective harvesting to maintain at least two-thirds forest canopy.

We also take action to protect certain sensitive species in addition to the formal habitat conservation plan. Examples include:

• Salmon in Washington and Oregon

  Our forests are providing a better habitat for salmon as we implement state regulations that Weyerhaeuser helped promote. We work with government agencies (state, federal and local), Native American tribes, environmental groups and other landowners to protect and restore declining salmon populations. Actions include leaving trees to provide shade and protect the integrity of forest streams, placing logs in streams to create pools and other structures beneficial to fish, installing culverts and bridges on forest roads to permit fish passage, and upgrading roads to keep silt out of streams.

• Red-cockaded woodpecker in the U.S. Southeast

  In North Carolina and Louisiana, these woodpeckers nest on or near Weyerhaeuser land. Our forests provide foraging habitat and cavity trees, protected from harvest. In North Carolina, we work with federal agencies through a memorandum of understanding. In Louisiana, we are exploring an opportunity to participate in a safe harbor agreement.

• Neotropical migrants and other songbirds in the southern United States

  Our land and forestry practices provide breeding habitat for many migrating songbirds as well as year-round habitat for resident birds. One example was documented in an Arkansas study by the U.S. Forest Service, National Council for Air and Stream Improvement, University of Arkansas at Monticello and Weyerhaeuser. The study found twice as many species of wildlife and birds, including migratory birds, in a Weyerhaeuser-managed pine forest than in an unmanaged pine-hardwood forest.

• Mountain woodland caribou in Alberta

  Forests that Weyerhaeuser manages in Alberta provide important habitat for mountain woodland caribou. This subspecies prefers large, contiguous areas of forest (especially older forests). In 2004, Weyerhaeuser began a five-year deferral of timber harvest on 82,000 hectares (202,000 acres) while a provincial caribou-recovery plan is being researched and developed. Weyerhaeuser is also funding a five-year, $1 million caribou-habitat research project by the University of Alberta. Mountain pine beetle infestations have presented a new threat to caribou. Weyerhaeuser's plan to address the pine beetle incorporates caribou needs, and high-value zones of caribou habitat should not be significantly affected by harvest.