SEATTLE, Wash. – Plum Creek Timber Co., one of the largest private timberland owners in the nation, announced that an independent auditor has certified that all of its timberland holdings – approximately 8 million acres – are managed to the standards of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative program.

PricewaterhouseCoopers conducted the SFI audits to verify that Plum Creek’s forests meet SFI’s comprehensive system of principles, objectives, performance measures and indicators. Practices include the perpetual growing and harvesting of trees with the protection of wildlife, plants, soil and water quality.

These independent auditors collaborated with academic and other forestry experts to review Plum Creek’s operations in several states during 2004. Plum Creek’s operations in other states were certified in previous years. The audit process included extensive interviews and field visits across the country and an inspection of company policies, practices, procedures and cooperative agreements.