Douglas Long on climate change
From Excellence in Core Timber Business - Doug Long · · Rayonier Inc.
“Our foresters and research team are focused on adapting to changing climates and utilizing advances in technology to organically grow our timber returns on each acre of our ownership.”
On , Douglas Long, Executive Vice President & Chief Resource Officer at RAYONIER INC, spoke about climate change during Excellence in Core Timber Business - Doug Long on Rayonier Inc..
About Douglas Long
Douglas Long, Executive Vice President and Chief Resource Officer at Rayonier, presented at the company's 2024 Investor Day, where he discussed the company's core timber business. He stated that Rayonier's 97 years of managing forests and timber markets remain the core of its business, and he expressed confidence in long-term secular tailwinds from decarbonization, population growth, and underbuilt housing. Long noted that the company's foresters and research team are focused on adapting to changing climates and using technology to grow timber returns. He highlighted that the company's largest timber segment has the cheapest lumber production costs in North America at $312, and he described a roughly 5 million house underbuild gap in the United States from 2006 to 2016 as a significant opportunity. Long also discussed market dynamics, saying that China's construction troubles are well known but that expanding markets in the Indo-Pacific region, including India, are growing rapidly. He stated that the New Zealand government is implementing a plan to increase domestic wood products manufacturing by 25%, and that Rayonier's sustainable cut is well positioned to help fill a projected harvest gap in New Zealand. In a 2022 video, Long said he has been with Rayonier for over 25 years, starting as a forester, and expressed pride in the company's growth from roughly 700,000 acres to over 2.5 million acres, stating that having the ability to influence that much land in a positive way is important.