Plum Creek, a real estate investment trust, is one of thelargest landowners in the nation, with timberlands in theNorthwest, Southern, and Northeast regions of the United States andnine wood product mills in the Northwest. Atlanta-based The TimberCompany is a separate operating group of Georgia-Pacific andmanages 4.7 million acres of timberland in the United States andsells timber and wood fiber to industrial wood users.

Following the merger, Plum Creek will be the second largestprivate timberland owner in the United States, with more than 7.8million acres of timberlands located in 19 states.

The decision to move forward was made by the boards of directorsof Plum Creek and Georgia-Pacific following confirmation that theywill receive opinions from tax counsel that the spin-off of TheTimber Company from Georgia-Pacific and the subsequent merger withPlum Creek will be tax-free to both companies and theirshareholders.