Cascade takes Crown land

Crown Pacific Partners has ceased to exist after transferring its last remaining asset, 522,000 acres of land, to creditors as part of its chapter 11 bankruptcy liquidation.

Cascade Timberlands LLC, owned by Crown's major creditors, has taken possession of the land, made up of 293,000 acres in central and southern Oregon, 147,000 acres in the North Cascades of Washington, and 82,000 acres in the north-west of Washington's Olympic peninsula.

Cascade will carry out an inventory of the timber during the next nine months to assess the financial value of the land. Some timber cutting will continue, but at far lower levels than under Crown's ownership.

Crown owed creditors more than US$500m.