Our Story
A century & a half of Stewardship & Sustainability
Port Blakely’s story is one of innovation, determination, & stewardship. It’s about cultivating a healthy world by caring for our forests to produce the sustainable forest products we grow & the communities we support.
STEWARDING OUR OREGON FORESTS
Company signs stewardship agreement with the Oregon of Department of Forestry committing to protect wildlife habitat over 30,000 acres in Clackamas County.
INVESTING IN OUR KIWI STEWARDSHIP
Port Blakely acquires 3,000-hectare Clutha property located in the Otago region. The purchase brings our NZ Foresty portfolio to almost 35,000 hectares.
CARBON FORESTRY 2
Port Blakely’s Winston Creek Carbon Project, on 10,000 acres in Lewis County, Washington, is certified by the American Carbon Registry.
CARBON FORESTRY
As part of the New Zealand government’s response to climate change, Port Blakely begins offering carbon credits through the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme.
EXPANDING MARKETS IN NEW ZEALAND
NZ Forestry division enters the third-party wood business, allowing us to market other people’s logs to international & domestic clients.
CREATING A SAFE HARBOR
We enter into a Safe Harbor Agreement with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, committing to enhance wildlife habitat on over 45,000 acres in Lewis & Skamania counties in Washington.
EXPANDING MARKETS
Port Blakely acquires export log-trading firm Pacific Lumber & Shipping. Later known as PLS International, the division wound down operations in 2020 due to shifts in the log export market & the global economy.
CERTIFIED SUSTAINABLE 2
Our New Zealand forestlands are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council®. We continue to maintain our certification through 2023.
CERTIFIED SUSTAINABLE
Port Blakely's US forestlands are certified by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative®. We have maintained our certification every year since.
COLLABORATING TO PROTECT SALMON
Port Blakely plays a key role in advancing Washington State’s groundbreaking Forests & Fish law, which brought together the forestry industry & environmental community to protect habitat.
HABITAT CONSERVATION
Port Blakely enters into our first Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) with the US Fish & Wildlife Service & the National Marine Fisheries Service covering 7,500 acres in Pacific County, Washington. The HCP has been expanded twice & now covers more than 11,000 acres.
GOING GLOBAL
Port Blakely launches our New Zealand Forestry division, owning & managing working forests across New Zealand.
INSPIRING FUTURE FORESTERS
Port Blakely establishes our Environmental Education program to teach elementary school students in Washington & Oregon about stewardship forestry through hands-on experience in the woods.
CREATING A COMMUNITY
Port Blakely Communities launches. A real estate venture focused on creating innovative urban villages combining a sense of community with smart growth, Issaquah Highlands becomes our signature development.
STEWARDSHIP FORESTRY
By the end of WWII, infrastructure & technological improvements make investing in growing forests from seedlings to harvest more feasible. The company begins acquiring more land & practicing forest management on a sustainable-yield basis.
PIONEERS IN FORESTRY RESEARCH
As part of his work improving reforestation science, James G. Eddy, a businessman & forest geneticist, establishes what is now known as the US Forest Service’s Institute of Forest Genetics.
FOCUSING ON FORESTRY
The Eddy family closes the outdated mill to focus the company on its timber investments.
A FAMILY BUSINESS
Skinner & Eddy end their partnership, dividing the assets. Brothers John, James, Robert Eddy & their family acquire the Port Blakely Mill Company & its forestlands.
A PARTNERSHIP FORMS
John W. Eddy & his partner Ned Skinner purchase the Port Blakely Mill Company. Other business ventures follow through the end WWI, including the Skinner & Eddy Shipbuilding Company.
BUILDING A RAILROAD
The mill is turning out 200,000 board feet a day, the most on the West Coast. But getting enough logs is a challenge. To reach the forests to the south, the company builds the Blakely Line railroad to haul logs from Mason County to Kamilche Point on the southern Puget Sound. The logs are then towed to Blakely Harbor.
CAPTAIN RENTON
Nova Scotia sea captain William Renton builds a sawmill on Bainbridge Island's Blakely Harbor. Over the next four decades, the Port Blakely Mill Company flourishes, at one point operating the world's largest sawmill under one roof.
