Weyerhaeuser Tops Forisk Timberlands List

Forisk released its 2025 edition of the North American Timberland Owner & Manager List, with Weyerhaeuser leading the way as an owner of 10,439 million acres, followed by J.D. Irving at 3.205 million and The Nature Conservancy at 2.567 million.

Sierra Pacific Industries is listed as the fourth largest timberland owner in North America with 2.306 million, all concentrated in the Western U.S.; followed by Green Diamond Resource, 2.241 million; PotlatchDeltic, 2.119 million; Rayonier, 2.058 million; Aurora Sustainable Lands, 1.702 million; Tall Timber Trust, 1.236 million; and Acadian Timber, 1.077 million.

Weyerhaeuser’s ownership, all in the U.S., includes 6.735 million in the South, 2.510 in the West and 1.194 in the North. Weyerhaeuser, PotlatchDeltic and Rayonier are classified as Public REITs.

No new name appears on the 2025 list when compared to the 2024 list. However, Rayonier slid down two places in the 2025 list from the fifth place it occupied in the 2024 ranking. Looking back five years, the 2020 edition of the top ten timberland owners included nine of the 10 owners on this year’s list.

Of the top 10 timberland “managers” in the U.S. and Canada, TIMOs, who manage timber assets on behalf of institutional investors and large private investors, hold six slots, accounting for 12.9 million acres. However, forest management firm American Forest Management tops the managers list with 5.738 million.

They are followed by Manulife (Hancock), 3.579 million; LandVest Timberlands, 2.357 million; F&W Forestry Services, 2.346 million; Wagner Forest Management, 2.139 million; Resource Management Service, 2.124 million; Forest Investment Associates, 1.814 million; Molpus Woodlands Group, 1.715 million; BTG Pactual, 1.512 million; and Huber Resources, 1.500 million.