Growing More Than We Harvest
The work behind the commitment
Growing more than we harvest takes commitment. It requires long-term planning, responsible harvesting, reforestation, protection, and ongoing care throughout a continuous cycle of harvest and renewal.
Our foresters take the long-view, choosing the right tree for the right place, patiently tending throughout the cycle, and protecting the forest from pests and wildfires.
When it’s time to harvest, we take less than what’s grown—and the cycle begins again.
Our Sustainable Forest Management
We grow more wood
than we harvest every year.
80-year plans
tending forests with a long-term view.
Less than 2%
of our land base is harvested each year.
100% reforested
after harvest by replanting or natural regeneration.
100% of land certified
20+ years of independent, third-party forest certifications
Over 1.1 Billion
trees planted since 1957.
Woodlands under our care
-
5.8M acres
of total managed land
across New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Maine. (2.4M hectares)
-
3.2M acres
of private freehold land
2nd largest private timberland owner in North America. (1.3M hectares)
-
2.6M acres
of NB Crown land
License #7, which accounts for 32% of NB Crown land (1.06M hectares)
100% of our land is certified
All our managed forests and land management activities are audited by independent, third-party organizations.
100% of land in Canada/US is certified by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI).
100% of Maine Woolands are certified under the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).
Built to last
Generational Forest Management
The customers and communities that depend on the forest need to know it'll be here.
We plan 80 years ahead, always growing more than we harvest each and every year—ensuring the forest stays healthy, biodiversity is protected, and the wood supply remains secure.
- We are the second largest private forest landowner in North America—1.3 million hectares of freehold land, plus 1.06 million hectares under a 25-year evergreen management agreement with New Brunswick.
- On track to double our freehold spruce/fir supply between 2000 and 2037—not by cutting on more land, but by planting more trees and growing more wood.
- Leveraging our leading tree breeding and tree propagation programs to deliver upwards of 25% faster growth with improved climate resilience
The forest will be here. So will we.
Forest Pulse
A world-class, data driven system for sustainable forestry.
The more we understand our forests, the better we can manage them for the future.
We combine advanced technology, forest analytics, and continuous monitoring to help us assess the impacts of our management and ensure our forests remain healthy and capable of supporting long-term sustainable wood supply.
This effort is built around 3 core pillars:
- Forest Inventory & Productivity
- Forest Health & Protection
- Wildlife Biodiversity Monitoring
Forest Inventory & Productivity
Bird's eye view of the trees
Managing nearly 6 million acres is a responsibility we don’t take lightly.
That's why we have mapped our entire land base from the air using LiDAR technology, creating a high-precision view of every meter of the 5.8 million acres of land, and the 5 billion trees growing on them.
Forest Health & Protection
RAPID WILDFIrE RESPONSE
Climate change is expected to intensify wildfire.
We protect what we grow. JDI is the only private company in Canada with its own firefighting fleet, including: 5 planes, 2 helicopters, 37 fire trucks, 360,000 feet of firehose, 115 trained firefighters, and 7 fully functional airstrips.
When fire threatens, we don't wait. We respond immediately.
Forest Health & Protection
CONTROLLING SPRUCE BUDWORM OUTBREAKS
If spruce trees had fears, the eastern spruce budworm would be near the top. This tiny insect—just 2–3 cm long—can cause massive damage to the forest.
It feeds on fir and spruce trees, and outbreaks can kill entire forests and increase fire risk. We are a founding partner on collaborative, science-based, early intervention strategies to control outbreaks.
Wildlife Biodiversity Monitoring
Over 500 Trail Cams & Sound Recorders
We are initiating and leading the development of a next-generation biodiversity monitoring network to strengthen our long-standing wildlife knowledge and proactively measure the impact of our operations. We will deploy over 500 research cameras and birdsong recorders to track wildlife across the forests.
Recordings will be analyzed with the latest AI classification software to identify species and generate biodiversity metrics.
“When I think about my responsibility to the forest, I really think of the forest as a cycle, and it’s my responsibility to ensure that cycle continues forever. We need to make sure this forest is set up for the next generations of people, the next generations of wildlife, and have a nice healthy ecosystem. And that’s my big motivation for being in forestry, is that I want to have that positive impact, and I want to keep the cycle going.”