For more than 75 years, an Oregon-based manufacturer named Roseburg Forest Products has harvested and sustained the forests, maintaining the highest standards of sustainability and stewardship of natural resources.

The closely held company operates 12 manufacturing plants, all in the U.S. Its major product lines include composite panels, plywood, engineered wood, and lumber. Yet, the starting point for this GreatManufacturingStory is the forest.

Roseburg owns 650,000 acres of forest land in Oregon and northern California. Each year, the company plants and nurtures more than five million new trees. Protecting that renewable resource is a matter of personal commitment to Roseburg’s management team and its 3,000 employees. Their environmental stewardship applies not only to the trees, but also to the soil and to the wildlife that inhabits the forest.

Sustainability extends to Roseburg’s material-use practices. Some 150,000 tons of wood residual material are reused every year to make high-grade particleboard. Other residuals are sent to a biomass co-generation facility where they are converted into energy.

Architects, builders, designers and consumers purchase Roseburg’s products, confident that the company is making the optimal use of forest products and residuals. Roseburg voluntarily complies with the Eco-Certified Composition (ECC) Sustainability Standard, which was developed by the Composite Panel Association.

As the association’s web site explains, “ECC Certification is available to individual manufacturing plants and requires an on-site qualification audit and subsequent annual audits. Unfinished composite panel products must first comply with the stringent California Air Resources Board (CARB) formaldehyde emissions regulation before being considered for other ECC criteria.” 

Qualified plants must then meet at least three of five other stringent standards, dealing with carbon footprint, local and renewable resources, recycled/recovered, sustainability, and wood sourcing practices.

Roseburg’s products can be seen in decorative applications (such as shelving, wall paneling, and veneer-finishes for furniture); construction uses (joists, columns, studs, beams, and real wood siding); and other industrial and specialty applications.

Yet, beyond the environmental stewardship and quality products, there is another side to this company that is also commendable. In September 2014, a wildfire swept through Weed, California, destroying houses and businesses alike. Roseburg’s veneer plant in Weed sustained significant damage.

Not only did Roseburg immediately set about replacing the boiler, and rebuilding the plant, but it also made heroic efforts to keep the affected workers employed. The company even took the lead in raising funds to assist victims who had lost their homes. Remarkably, the plant was partially open again well before Thanksgiving, and local leaders were effusive in their praise for this great manufacturing company.