A global investment giant with an environmentally friendly reputation is buying about one-twentieth of Maine’s land mass.

In a $250 million deal announced Tuesday, just under 1.1 million acres of the state will change hands. GMO Renewable Resources, a subsidiary of GMO, is the buyer; International Paper the seller.

The land stretches in a band across Maine’s midsection, from the Bucksport area, where IP maintains a mill, to the New Hampshire border. It includes significant parcels in Oxford and Franklin counties along the Canadian border, as well as land in Hancock and Washington counties.

Another 24,000 IP-owned acres in the Granite State will go to GMORR as well, according to Rick Ouellette, senior communications manager for forest products for IP. Ouellette, interviewed by telephone at IP’s Androscoggin mill in Jay, said no map detailing the area of the sale was available.

Ouellette said the deal is intended “to ensure the ability of the Bucksport and Androscoggin mills to compete in the global economy.” IP also has a container-making plant in Auburn.

Ouellette couldn’t provide details on exactly what IP would do with the sale proceeds or say how IP would use the sale to better position the company.

“It’s too early to speculate on what we will do with the $250 million,” he said. “It could be used for many purposes, including to pay down debt.”

He said IP struck the deal with GMORR now because “this is when we were approached. We were able to get a superior value for the forestlands and ensure a supply of fiber for our mills in the process.”

GMORR will continue the long-standing Maine tradition of allowing open access to the forestlands for sporting activities, he said. Hunting, fishing, snowmobiling and other outdoor sports historically allowed by IP will continue, according to the sales agreements.

“The management of the land base will continue with the same or very similar rules and regulations on responsible public use that are in place today,” Ouellette said. “GMORR also plans to continue the practice of cabin site leasing for the recreational lease holders on these lands and will evaluate the recreational programs on a regular basis.”

Part of the sale terms also call for IP to manage the forestlands on GMORR’s behalf. And GMORR is promising a steady supply of fiber for both IP mills, Ouellette said.

Overall, he said, the deal means the mills will continue to operate on a stable financial footing.

George O’Brien, IP’s senior vice president for forest products, said in a prepared statement: “Our decision to sell these forestlands is based on achieving a superior value for our forestlands while maintaining our ability to provide for the wood fiber needs of our two Maine mills.”

“These are some of the most productive, well-managed forestlands in the Northeast,” said Bob Saul, GMORR’s director of domestic investments, also in a statement. “In addition to growing trees for the paper, packaging and wood products markets, we look forward to optimizing the value of this high-quality wood resource and managing the lands as a sustainable working forest.”

Tucker Hewes, who handles media inquiries for GMO, said from Boston that he couldn’t comment on the company’s specific plans for the land.

“Right now they’re not putting out a statement” expanding on the information released earlier through IP, Hewes said.

Ouellette said the management services IP will provide to GMORR calls for third-party certification in the Sustainable Forestry Initiative Standard. The initiative is one of several so-called “green” or environmentally friendly policies that are available to the forest products industry. Businesses that adhere to SFI standards agree to manage lands scientifically, in a way that will keep forests healthy, and harvest lands in a manner that ensures sustainability of the forest.

GMORR supports a variety of conservation organizations such as the Washington Forest Protection Association. It’s known for favoring management practices that include low-intensity logging.

Jeremy Grantham, a founding member of Boston-based GMO, has been active in the Rain Forest Alliance’s Green Globe Awards program.

GMORR’s Saul said the company hopes “to build upon our strong relationship with the conservation community to keep this valuable forest resource intact.”

Diano Circo, a forest policy advocate with the Natural Resources Council of Maine, said GMORR has a good record of land stewardship “and we’re hoping they’ll do this here.”

IP’s O’Brien said the company’s contract with GMORR calls for “managing the land to meet or exceed all requirements of sustainable forestry to ensure the protection of wildlife and fish habitat, soils and air and water quality.”

IP, based in Stamford, Conn., until now has been Maine’s second-largest landowner, behind Irving. It becomes the fifth papermaker in the state to shed its woodlands in the past six years.

MeadWestvaco, with mills in Rumford, sold 629,000 acres last year to raise money in order to pay down debt.

The largest land deal in state history was in 1990 when Georgia-Pacific acquired 2.1 million acres in its hostile takeover of Great Northern Nekoosa.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

About GMO

GMO, a global investment management firm, is headquartered in Boston and has offices in San Francisco, London, Zurich, Singapore and Sydney.

The private partnership, founded in 1977, employs about 250 people worldwide. It manages $66 billion in client assets.

The company offers investment products including equity and fixed assets, as well as income-producing strategies in development and emerging markets.

Its client base includes endowments, pension funds, public funds, foundations and cultural institutions.