Pope says it will use the proceeds of the sale to pay down debt incurred earlier in the year in the acquisition of 44,500 acres of timberland in southwestern Washington. In that transaction, Pope paid $54 million to Plum Creek Timber Co. of Seattle. On August 1st, Pope Resources reported net income of $0.6 million, or 14 cents per diluted ownership unit, on revenues of $15.3 million for the quarter ending June 30th. This was a substantial drop from first quarters 2000's net income of $1.5 million, or 32 cents per diluted ownership unit, on revenues of $14.1 million. Allen E. Symington, the company's chairman and CEO says the dip was due primarily to a "combination of higher depletion expenses and weaker log prices."

Pope Resources owns or manages over 600,000 acres of timberland and development property in Washington, Oregon, California, and British Columbia. It also engages in forestry consulting and timberland investment management services to third-party owners and other timberland managers. Altogether, Pope and its predecessors have been in the timber business for more than 150 years.