Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024

Nature Conservancy And Conservation Fund Make Deal To Save Southern Forests

International Paper, The Nature Conservancy and The Conservation Fund have reached an agreement to protect 218,000 acres of forestlands across 10 states in the single largest private land conservation sale in the history of the South, and one of the largest in the nation.
   
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International Paper, The Nature Conservancy and The Conservation Fund have reached an agreement to protect 218,000 acres of forestlands across 10 states in the single largest private land conservation sale in the history of the South, and one of the largest in the nation.
   
The Nature Conservancy will acquire more than 173,000 acres in North Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Mississippi. The Conservation Fund will acquire more than 5,000 acres in Florida and 500 in North Carolina. The two groups will jointly purchase an additional 39,000 acres in South Carolina.

International Paper will receive approximately $300 million for the land when the deal closes in a few months.

The tracts included in the sale are some of International Paper’s most ecologically important lands, but the majority of the land will remain working forests. Under the terms of the agreement, timber will be harvested in sustainable quantities from some tracts and a set amount of timber volume will be supplied to International Paper for local production. Sensitive areas will continue to be set aside from harvesting activities.

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These sensitive areas include habitat for bald eagles, black bear and the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker. Many of these lands are also located along river estuaries, including the Perdido River on the boarder of Florida and Alabama, the Lower Roanoke River in North Carolina, and the Pee Dee and Little Pee Dee rivers in South Carolina.

“The South’s landscape is changing before our eyes. It’s only through partnerships among state and federal agencies, companies like International Paper, private landowners and nonprofit organizations that we can hope to conserve the South’s natural heritage and quality of life,” said Steve McCormick, president and CEO of The Nature Conservancy.

International Paper has now protected about 1.5 million acres of forestland through conservation donations, sales and easements. Conservationists predict that, over the next 25 years, as much as 44 million acres of privately owned U.S. forestland will be sold.

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