David Nunes, president and CEO of Rayonier Inc. (NYSE: RYN), participated in a video interview in conjunction with Nareit’s REITweek: 2021 Investor Conference.
Nunes discussed some of the nuances among the timber REIT’s three geographic segments of the U.S. South, U.S. Pacific Northwest, and New Zealand, but said the business model of managing assets for the long-term on a sustainable basis, while also providing industry-leading financial returns, remains the same.
“Naturally, there are different regulatory requirements in each of our primary geographies, but there are also a lot of similarities,” Nunes said.
Nunes also said that Rayonier invests in road infrastructure in order to access lands following inclement weather, and times its harvests across all geographies in order to meet weather conditions. Rayonier often harvests in volume following a weather event to capture stronger pricing, he added.
Turning to the importance of sustainability, Nunes said Rayonier’s foresters and scientists have been working with environmental groups and governmental entities dating back to the passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972.
“Over the passage of that time, Rayonier has worked with NGOs to put more than 100,000 acres of high-conservation land in perpetual conservation,” he said.
Nunes added that there is a role for working forests in long-term conservation, and that Rayonier recently collaborated with environmental groups and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on management practices for the gopher tortoise, a keystone species in the Southern pine forests.
Watch more video interviews from Nareit's REITweek: 2021 Investor Conference