History
19th century
Truman Doud (TD) Collins began what was later known as the Collins Companies in 1855 at Turkey Run near Whig Hill, Pennsylvania. He and five others, including his brother, Joseph Van Halen (JV) Collins, bought a steam mill and timber from John Alexander. By 1864, TD Collins bought out the remaining partners including his brother.
20th century
Before TD Collins died in 1914, he owned, along with others, a large number of sawmills in the Tionesta Valley of Pennsylvania, over 60,000 acres (240 km2) of timberland, the Tionesta Manufacturing Company, the Nebraska Box Mill, the Mayburg Chemical Plant, plus over 100 miles (160 km) of logging railroad, 41 miles (66 km) of main line, 25 locomotives, several oil companies, and a bank.
Married to Mary Stanton Collins, they had one son, Everell (ES) Stanton Collins. Following TD's death, Everell took over the company. He moved the company westward, purchasing forestlands in northern California, Washington, and Oregon. By the time he died in 1940, ES Collins would oversee the operations of 15 timber, logging, railroad, and pulp & paper companies in four states, in addition to moving the company headquarters from Pennsylvania to Portland, Oregon.
Following his father, Truman W. Collins became president. During his years in the timber business he began implementing sustainable forest management practices. These practices contributed to the Collins Companies becoming the first privately owned forest products company in the United States to become certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. Truman Collins continued the family's charitable works including founding, among others, the Collins Foundation, the Collins Medical Trust, and the Collins/McDonald Trust.
Following Truman's death in 1963, Truman's brother-in-law, Elmer Goudy took over the presidency, followed by his son, Alan Collins Goudy. Truman's wife, Maribeth Wilson Collins, also became involved in the company, serving first as president of The Collins Foundation and later as Chair of the Board of The Collins Companies.
21st century
In 2005, Maribeth Collins stepped down and her daughter, Cherida Collins Smith, became Chair of the Board of The Collins Companies; Maribeth's son, Truman W. Collins, Jr., became president of the Collins Foundation; and her son, Terry Collins, a forester with the company, became president of the Collins Timber Company.
Plumas County is a county in the Sierra Nevada of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 19,790. The county seat is Quincy, and the only incorporated city is Portola. The largest community in the county is East Quincy. The county was named for the Spanish Río de las Plumas, which flows through it. The county itself is also the namesake of a native moth species, Hadena plumasata.
Chester is a census-designated place (CDP) in Plumas County, California, United States. Chester is located on Lake Almanor, 30 miles (48.3 km) north-northwest of Quincy. The town is located along State Route 36. The US Postal Service ZIP code for the community is 96020. The population was 2,144 at the 2010 census, down from 2,316 at the 2000 census.
Lakeview is a town in Lake County, Oregon, United States. The population was 2,418 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Lake County. The city bills itself as the "Tallest Town in Oregon" because of its elevation, 4,757 feet (1,450 m) above sea level. Lakeview is situated in the Goose Lake Valley at the foot of the Warner Mountains and at the edge of Oregon's high desert country. Its economy is based on agriculture, lumber production, and government activities. In addition, tourism is an increasingly important part of the city's economy. Oregon's Outback Scenic Byway passes through Lakeview.
The Allegheny National Forest is a National Forest in Northwestern Pennsylvania, about 100 miles northeast of Pittsburgh. The forest covers 513,175 acres of land. Within the forest is Kinzua Dam, which impounds the Allegheny River to form Allegheny Reservoir. The administrative headquarters for the Allegheny National Forest is in Warren. The Allegheny National Forest has two ranger stations, one in Marienville, Forest County, and the other in Bradford, McKean County.
The Fremont–Winema National Forest is a United States National Forest formed from the 2002 merger of the Fremont and Winema National Forests. They cover territory in southern Oregon from the crest of the Cascade Range on the west past the city of Lakeview to the east. The northern end of the forests is bounded by U.S. Route 97 on the west and Oregon Route 31 on the east. To the south, the state border with California forms the boundary of the forests. Klamath Falls is the only city of significant size in the vicinity. The forests are managed by the United States Forest Service, and the national forest headquarters are located in Lakeview.
The Babcock Lumber Company was founded in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1887 and conducted logging operations in the eastern United States. In 1951 the company diversified into building material distribution. Today the company has two main divisions: hardwood lumber manufacturing and wholesale building material distribution.
Columbia Forest Products is the largest manufacturer of hardwood veneer and hardwood plywood in the United States. Founded in 1957, it is headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina. It specializes in decorative, interior veneers and plywood panels that are used in high-end cabinetry, fine furniture, architectural millwork and commercial fixtures. The company distributes its products primarily through a network of wholesale distributors, mass merchandisers and OEMs. Since 1976, the company has been completely employee-owned and currently has 10 manufacturing facilities throughout the U.S. and Canada. At the end of 2006, Columbia converted all of its standard hardwood plywood production to produce formaldehyde-free panels called PureBond. In 2007 Columbia added PureBond formaldehyde-free particleboard to its product range.
Yamsay Mountain is a large shield volcano in the Cascade Range of south-central Oregon, located about 35 miles (56 km) east of Crater Lake on the border between Klamath County and Lake County. It is part of the Cascade Volcanic Arc but is located in a mountain range 30 to 50 miles behind the main Cascade volcanic front. The best known members of this enigmatic arc are the massive shields of Newberry Volcano, about 55 miles (89 km) farther north in Oregon, and Medicine Lake Volcano, about 80 miles (130 km) south in Northern California. Yamsay is the highest volcano in the eastern arc, almost 300 feet (90 m) higher than Newberry and Medicine Lake.
The Mendocino Redwood Company, is a California based forest products company, which operates one mill in Ukiah, with holdings of over 228,800 acres (926 km2), primarily in Mendocino County.
The Goose Lake Valley is located in south-central Oregon and northeastern California in the United States. It is a high valley at the northwestern corner of North America's Great Basin. Much of the valley floor is covered by Goose Lake, a large endorheic lake that straddles the Oregon–California border. Native Americans inhabited the Goose Lake Valley for thousands of years before explorers arrived in the 19th century. The pioneer wagon route known as the Applegate Trail crossed the Goose Lake Valley on its way to southern Oregon. At the south end of Goose Lake, the Lassen Cutoff separated from the Applegate Trail and headed south toward the Sacramento Valley. Today, Lakeview, Oregon, is the largest settlement in the valley. Livestock ranching and lumber mills are the valley's main commercial activity. The Goose Lake Valley offers a number of recreational opportunities including hang-gliding, hunting, fishing, and birdwatching.
Interfor Corporation is one of the largest lumber producers in the world. The company's sawmilling operations have a combined manufacturing capacity of over 5.2 billion board feet of lumber with sales to North America, Asia-Pacific and Europe. Interfor is based in Vancouver, BC and employs approximately 5200 people. In May 2014, Interfor opened its corporate office for the USA south-east region at Peachtree City, Georgia.
Pacific Albus is a hybrid poplar grown in the Pacific Northwest, near Boardman, Oregon. Its name is from the Latin word albus meaning white. It has similar characteristics to aspen and cottonwood.
Lumber and wood products, including timber for framing, plywood, and woodworking, are created in the wood industry from the trunks and branches of trees through several processes, commencing with the selection of appropriate logging sites and concluding with the milling and treatment processes of the harvested material. In order to determine which logging sites and milling sites are responsibly producing environmental, social and economic benefits, they must be certified under the Forests For All Forever (FCS) Certification that ensures these qualities.
Greenheart Group is a listed multi-national forestry company based in Hong Kong.
Warner Buck Snider, also known as W. B. Snider or Buck Snider, was a city recorder, county sheriff, rancher, and Oregon state legislator. He was a Republican member of the Oregon House of Representatives for two terms, from 1933 through 1936. After leaving the legislature, Snider returned to cattle ranching. He served as president of the Oregon Cattlemen's Association and actively advocated for grazing rights and highway construction in eastern Oregon.
The Barry Point Fire was a wildfire that burned over 92,977 acres (376.26 km2) of Oregon and California forest land during the summer of 2012. The fire began on 5 August 2012, the result of a lightning strike. The fire consumed public forest and rangeland as well as private forest and grazing land located in Lake County, Oregon and Modoc County, California. The public lands affected by the fire are administered by the United States Forest Service and the Oregon Department of Forestry. The largest part of the private land was owned by the Collins Timber Company. At the peak of the firefighting effort, there were 1,423 personnel working on the fire. It took 22 days to fully contain the fire and then an additional three weeks to mop it up.
The wood industry or timber industry is the industry concerned with forestry, logging, timber trade, and the production of primary forest products and wood products and secondary products like wood pulp for the pulp and paper industry. Some of the largest producers are also among the biggest owners of timberland. The wood industry has historically been and continues to be an important sector in many economies.
Mark W. Bullard, also known as M. W. Bullard, was an American pioneer who established homesteads in Oregon and Washington state. As a young man, he traveled from his family home in Vermont to California and then on to Oregon and Washington. He eventually settled in what is now Pacific County, Washington. He served in the Washington territorial militia during a regional Indian war in the mid-1850s. After the war, he moved to the Goose Lake Valley in south central Oregon. While there, he donated property to establish a new town that became Lakeview, Oregon, the county seat of Lake County. He later returned to his farm in Pacific County, Washington.
The Victorian Plantations Corporation (VPC) of Victoria, Australia, was established under the State Owned Enterprises Act in May 1993, and by June 1993 was declared a State Business Corporation.
Truman Wesley Collins was an American businessman, civic leader, and philanthropist from the state of Oregon. He was born into a wealthy and influential business family. Collins graduated from Willamette University and then attended graduate school at Harvard University. After college, he returned to the Pacific Northwest to join his family's lumber business. Over the years, he was the top executive for a number of Collins family businesses. He was also an active leader in several timber-related industry groups and contributed to selected education and religious institutions.
