International Paper Company released the successful bidders for about 5.1 million acres of their lands. Resource Management Services based in Birmingham, Alabama got most of the land with a company called TimberStar and a couple of Nature Conservacy groups getting a good bit, especially in Alabama and Michigan. Good chance most of thehunting leases will be given to the same groups that had them last year. With luck the buyers won't start selling off the land for a few years. If you want to read the article go to InternationalPaper.com and click the link. Actual closings won't be completed till this fall.

Timber, it will be interesting around here in a short while. I sure do miss Champion!

Its going to get real interesting in the next couple of years in the paper industry. With mills shutting down machines all over the place, people out of work, and foreign investors buying American paper companies, things will never be the same. Larry

It was bad enough that the Canadian and South Americans started hitting the American market with cheaper (cheap labor and very little if any environmental expenses). The Chinese and Russians have extensive forest of conifers and they are starting to hit the world market. Lots of timber related jobs are going to be lost in the U.S.

We've been losing timber related jobs for yrs now. IP has been selling it's land for yrs. I worked for IP at the Moss Point Ms. milll for almost 30 yrs before it shut down "yielding to more modern facilities". Thousands +? acres sold off all over south Ms seven or eight yrs ago.
Bought some 2x6 boards the other day for my shop . . . .made in Europe,[:@], planed on a different dimension and split to look at it.

I am concerned over the Chinese paper coming in. The quality is improving and the price is significantly cheaper than U.S. products. Some mills in China and Indonesia are shipping GA clay and southern pulp to their mfg facilitys, making the paper, shipping it back to us and selling it cheaper!This is really hurting the American mfgs. Larry