Wells will initially fund the REIT with $750 million. "We willuse some debt but we will be very conservative," he says. Jarrattestimates "somewhere in the neighborhood of one million acres" willbe purchased with the initial funding. Wells plans for the REIT tohave a diverse portfolio with timberland from diverse geographicallocations and different age and timber types. There isapproximately 500 million acres of commercial timberland in thecountry with approximately an additional 250 million acres of wildland and other forestland that is not of a commercial nature. Ofthe commercial timberland, roughly half is owned by "privatenon-industrial individuals," "a large chunk" is owned by thefederal government and "industry and institutional investors ownthe rest," Jarratt says. The REIT has not purchased any timberlandyet but "We are actively in the market as we speak," Jarrattsays.The REIT should be attractive to investors because"Timberland's income is typically tax advantaged in that it iscapital gain," he says. Wells plans for the REIT to generaterevenue through the sale of timber harvesting rights, leasingland-use rights and selling some of the land at a later date. InSouthern forests, pulpwood can be sold when timber reaches 15years, which sells for about $7 per ton. At about age 22, thetimber can be sold for about $22 per ton for small logs and, atabout 29 years, the timber can be sold for larger logs from morethan $40 per ton, Jarratt says. "The value proposition fortimberland is very simple in that trees grow regardless of whatgoes on in the marketplace, regardless of interest rates or worldevents," he says. After the final harvest, Wells plans to replant,making it an ecologically sound, renewable resource, he says.