A Green Century
When you carefully manage a renewable resource – trees – and continually innovate to benefit your employees, customers and community, then sustainability, innovation and efficiency are not new challenges to which you need to adjust. They are a way of life.
The Langdale Company has planted more trees than we have harvested since the 1930′s. In 2009 we planted our 100 millionth seedling. Minimizing waste in the process has always made good business sense – and has been good for the environment. This philosophy has inspired continual innovation across a now highly diversified company. In the forest products business, responsible stewardship means complete utilization of the tree from underbrush, pine needles, bark and mill residues.
Environmental
Just as our roots in forestry have shaped our approach to sustainability, our focus on trees has shaped our relationship with the environment. As stewards of limited natural resources, we use all of the tree – whether for fiber or energy. That ethic of total utilization of the resource extends to recovery and recycling of chemicals from treatment processes. Langdale led the forest products industry in switching from oil to water-based treatment products in the 1960s. We have generated our own energy at our wood-fired dry kilns since the 1950s.
So, stewardship is nothing new for Langdale. We know that our customers across diverse industries look to us not only to provide products and services but to lead them in exceeding environmental standards. The bio-scrubber recently installed at our MDF plant, for example, is the first of its kind in North America. Across our affiliate companies, we continue to be rooted in efficiency and innovation that benefits the environment. It is simply good business.
Scientific Reforestation
At The Langdale Company, we believe it is the responsibility of every employee to leave the forest in better condition than we found it. The forest contains many diverse ecosystems that interact. We employ scientific, multiple-use management practices to enhance timber, wildlife, soil, air, water and aesthetic resources. Special attention is also paid to streamside management zones, air quality, and recreation. And we manage several special sites noted for their aesthetic beauty, wildlife management, and endangered or threatened species.
The Langdale Company is committed to growing forest products for our nation’s future and the protection of the environment. We do so by maximizing revenue from timberlands while maintaining a sustained and regulated harvest. More specifically, pine timber resources are managed on 30-year rotations, primarily for saw timber and poles with pulpwood being a secondary product. Hardwood stands are managed in 30 to 40 year rotations.