Plum Creek Timber Co

A day after agreeing to buy rival paper company Fort James Corp., Georgia-Pacific Corp. agreed to sell its Timber Co. unit to Plum Creek Timber Co. for $3 billion in stock. Seattle-based Plum Creek also will assume $1 billion in Timber Co. debt in a deal that would make it the nation's second-largest private timberland owner. Under the deal, Timber Co. shareholders are to receive 1.37 shares of Plum Creek stock for each share of Timber Co.

A day after agreeing to buy rival paper company Fort James Corp., Georgia-Pacific Corp. agreed to sell its Timber Co. unit to Plum Creek Timber Co. for $3 billion in stock. Seattle-based Plum Creek also will assume $1 billion in Timber Co. debt in a deal that would make it the nation's second-largest private timberland owner. Under the deal, Timber Co. shareholders are to receive 1.37 shares of Plum Creek stock for each share of Timber Co.

Nearly 1 million acres of woodland in central Maine--5% of the state's forests--were sold by one timber company to another, worrying environmentalists who fear the vast tract will be cut down or sold to developers. In one of the biggest land deals in Maine history, Seattle-based Plum Creek Timber Co. agreed to pay Sappi Fine Paper North America $180 million for 905,000 acres. Environmentalists had been pressing Maine Gov.

People in northwestern Montana are advised to be on the lookout for drunken bears. Black bears and grizzlies are gathering along Burlington Northern railroad tracks east of Essex, where a train carrying hundreds of tons of corn derailed in 1985. Some of the corn left behind has fermented, and the aroma is attracting bears. "The bears are actually intoxicated up there," said Loren Hicks, a wildlife biologist for Plum Creek Timber Co., a BN subsidiary.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service expects 18 million acres of fish and wildlife habitat to be protected on private lands by the end of the year under habitat-conservation plans. A look at the 20 largest plans, their location and species affected: 1. State of Washington, 1.6 million acres specified in management plan for state's 2.1 million acres of forestry lands; northern spotted owl, marbled murrelet, salmon, steelhead, trout. 2.

Kmart Corp.'s board of directors met Tuesday to discuss financial options, possibly even bankruptcy, as the stock of the discount retailer closed near a 34-year low amid concern over its failing efforts to compete against the low prices of rival Wal-Mart Stores Inc. The nation's second-largest discount retailer has said that it may need additional financing from banks after months of weak sales, especially over the crucial Christmas shopping season.

The nation's largest owner of timberland said Monday that it would no longer pursue changes in agreements over its use of U.S. Forest Service roads -- changes that critics complained could transform forests into housing subdivisions. Critics of the proposed changes had included President-elect Barack Obama and a Montana senator. Changes in the agreements would benefit the public, but "given the lack of receptivity, we have decided not to go forward," Plum Creek Timber Co.

The president of the Wilderness Society, a venerable conservation organization that has fought to protect wildlife and forests throughout the country, logged more than 400,000 board feet of timber from his western Montana ranch early this year. The timber sale is detailed in a Nation magazine article being published today. The society's president, G. Jon Roush, was severely criticized in the article, written by Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St.

A proposed development at the gateway to Maine's North Woods envisions nearly 1,000 house lots, two resorts, three recreational vehicle parks, a golf course and a marina. It would be the state's biggest such project -- and opponents and supporters alike say its impact would be colossal. Local officials hail the Plum Creek Timber Co.'s plan for the Moosehead Lake region as a potential shot in the arm for a part of Maine bypassed by economic growth.

The Bush administration appears poised to push through a change in U.S. Forest Service agreements that would make it far easier for mountain forests to be converted to housing subdivisions. Mark Rey, the former timber lobbyist who heads the Forest Service, last week signaled his intent to formalize the controversial change before the Jan. 20 inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama.

Faithful viewers of television's "Northern Exposure" will recognize much in Roslyn--Dr. Joel Fleischman's office, Ruth Ann's store, the radio station where Chris works. In fact, these streets are used for exterior shots on the popular CBS show, doubling as the fictional Alaska hamlet of Cicely. But this is no Hollywood set. It's a real town with 800 residents and a long history. And at the moment, it is a town divided over a proposal to build a resort of up to 5,000 housing units.