PotlatchDeltic Corp. recently announced an agreement to sell approximately 72,000 acres in Minnesota to The Conservation Fund for approximately $48 million in cash.
The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the second half of 2020. Of those 72,000 acres, 24,460 are located in the Brainerd lakes area and surrounding counties: 9,200 acres each in Cass and Crow Wing counties, 4,900 in Wadena County and 1,360 in Aitkin County.
“This transaction represents a significant milestone in our long-term strategy to maximize shareholder value through rural real estate sales,” stated Mike Covey, chairman and chief executive officer of PotlatchDeltic, in a news release. “Proceeds from this transaction will further enhance our already strong liquidity position and flexibility. Our Minnesota ownership was approximately 330,000 acres when we began our rural land sale program over a dozen years ago. The timberlands that we currently own in Minnesota are heavily weighted to more remote areas, ideal for conservation and working forest protection. Nearly all of our ownership in the state is now under contract with a series of closings scheduled to occur through 2022.”
Larry Selzer, president and CEO of The Conservation Fund, stated the acquisition will be one of the largest land conservation efforts in recent Minnesota history.
“Our goal is to ensure the 72,000 acres remain forested and sustainably managed as working timberlands,” Selzer stated in the release. “Our purchase and the ultimate protection of the PotlatchDeltic land will support northern Minnesota’s long tradition of timber production and outdoor recreation by preserving working forestlands and safeguarding jobs, while also protecting water quality and wildlife habitat, helping mitigate climate change, and contributing to local economies.”
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This outcome is a culmination of long-standing work The Conservation Fund and PotlatchDeltic have been able to complete together to achieve conservation and economic goals, the release stated.
“With this transaction and others underway, this partnership has been the catalyst to conserve more than 200,000 acres in the state of Minnesota for various conservation purposes, including working forests, protection of important habitats and public access,” according to the release.
The Conservation Fund’s purchase will be made possible through its Working Forest Fund, which seeks to protect large, ecologically and economically important forestlands from subdivision and fragmentation, allowing time for permanent conservation solutions to be developed and implemented with local partners with a goal to strengthen rural economies and conserve natural ecosystems.
The PotlatchDeltic lumber mill in Bemidji will continue to operate as it has for nearly 30 years. “The property being sold to The Conservation Fund as a working forest will continue to supply logs to these markets and provide for the protection of the essential jobs required to deliver and process the trees,” the release stated.
The Conservation Fund seeks to create solutions that make environmental and economic sense, redefining conservation to demonstrate its essential role in our future prosperity, according to the organization. It has worked in all 50 states since 1985 to protect more than 8 million acres of land, including more than 311,000 acres in Minnesota. More information can be found at conservationfund.org and workingforestfund.org .
PotlatchDeltic, previously Potlatch, is a real estate investment trust that owns approximately 1.8 million acres of timberlands in Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Louisiana, Minnesota and Mississippi. Through its taxable investment trust subsidiary, the company also operates six sawmills, an industrial-grade plywood mill, a residential and commercial real estate development business and a rural timberland sales program.
