MacMillan Bloedel Limited was a Canadian forestry company headquartered in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

. The company was formed in 1951 as MacMillan and Bloedel through the merger of Bloedel, Stewart and Welch with the H. R. MacMillan Export Company. MacMillan and Bloedel then merged in 1959 with the Powell River Company to form MacMillan, Bloedel and Powell River, before adopting its final name in 1966. It was acquired by

Weyerhaeuser The Weyerhaeuser Company ( ) is an American timberland company which owns nearly of timberlands in the U.S., and manages an additional of timberlands under long-term licenses in Canada. The company has manufactured wood products for over a c ...

in 1999.

Predecessor companies

Powell River Company

In 1908 two American entrepreneurs, Dr. Dwight Brooks and Michael Scanlon, created a

newsprint Newsprint is a low-cost, non-archival paper consisting mainly of wood pulp and most commonly used to print newspapers and other publications and advertising material. Invented in 1844 by Charles Fenerty of Nova Scotia, Canada, it usually has ...

mill at Powell River, northwest of Vancouver. The Powell River Company turned out the first roll of newsprint manufactured in British Columbia in 1912. It soon became one of the world's largest newsprint plants and today is credited with introducing the first self-dumping log

barge A barge is typically a flat-bottomed boat, flat-bottomed vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. Original use was on inland waterways, while modern use is on both inland and ocean, marine water environments. The firs ...

to British Columbia.

Bloedel, Stewart and Welch

In 1911 Julius Bloedel, a

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

lawyer, along with his two partners, John Stewart and Patrick Welch, began acquiring large blocks of

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest ...

forests. Their

Franklin River The Franklin River is a major perennial river located in the Central Highlands (Tasmania), Central Highlands and Western Tasmania, western regions of Tasmania, Australia. The river is located in the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park at ...

camp soon became one of the world's largest

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidder, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or trunk (botany), logs onto logging truck, trucksLidgerwood steel spar yarder and

chainsaw A chainsaw (or chain saw) is a portable handheld power saw, power saw that cuts with a set of teeth attached to a rotating chain driven along a guide bar. Modern chainsaws are typically gasoline or electric and are used in activities such as t ...

. In 1938, Bloedel, Stewart and Welch became the first logging company in the province to plant

seedling A seedling is a young sporophyte developing out of a plant embryo from a seed. Seedling development starts with germination of the seed. A typical young seedling consists of three main parts: the radicle (embryonic root), the hypocotyl (embry ...

s in a logged-over area. Bloedel, Stewart and Welch opened a large timber mill in Port Alberni. The company had large camps near Menzies Bay, British Columbia, Comox and Myrtle Point, just south of Powell River. The company was headquartered in Vancouver. Stewart and Welch were also partners in Foley, Welch and Stewart, who were prominent in

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

-building operations in the same period.

H. R. MacMillan Export Company

The last of the three pre-merger companies was the H.R. MacMillan Export Company, which was created in 1919 by Harvey, or H.R. MacMillan, British Columbia's first Chief Forester. MacMillan reportedly gained considerable experience in world lumbering during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. With his colleague Whitford Julian VanDusen, another forester, MacMillan incorporated a company in 1919 to sell British Columbia lumber products to foreign markets. In 1924, they established a shipping company that would become one of the world's biggest charter companies. With the creation of Seaboard Lumber by the other mill owners in British Columbia, there was a major threat to MacMillan, as Seaboard was to export all the lumber from the companies that founded it leaving MacMillan without the lumber needed to fulfill their orders. MacMillan responded by beginning to purchase mills and creating the first truly integrated forestry company in British Columbia. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, MacMillan acquired numerous small mills and timber tenures on the south coast of British Columbia. Macmillan1

History of MacMillan Bloedel

MacMillan and Bloedel Limited, 1951–1959

In 1951 Bloedel, Stewart and Welch merged with H.R. MacMillan to form MacMillan Bloedel Limited. The two companies had timber holdings side-by-side and there was a natural synergy from this merger. Bloedel, Stewart and Welch held many timber resources and MacMillan was the first truly integrated forestry company in British Columbia. The merger in 1951 created a company that would be able to compete on the global scene.

MacMillan, Bloedel and Powell River Limited, 1959–1966

On 31 December 1959, MacMillan and Bloedel completed its merger with the Powell River Company. The merger was carried out via a stock swap, whereby MacMillan and Bloedel shares were exchanged for shares in Powell River. On 4 January 1960, the name of the Powell River Company Limited was changed to MacMillan, Bloedel and Powell River Limited. Beginning in the 1960s, MacMillan Bloedel expanded across

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

as well as to

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. At its peak, acquisitions and construction activities gave MacMillan Bloedel worldwide assets of more than C$4 billion.

MacMillan Bloedel Limited, 1966–1999

At the company's annual meeting in 1966, shareholders voted to shorten its name to MacMillan Bloedel Limited. Along with the name change, in 1967 the company commissioned a new logo designed by Lester Beall (1903–1969). The

Brutalist Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by minimalist constructions that showcase the b ...

MacMillan Bloedel Building located at Thurlow and Georgia Street in downtown Vancouver was a highlight of the early architectural career of Arthur Erickson, who advocated the use of concrete as "the new marble" and employed it in the building's stark design, which is often compared locally to a concrete

waffle A waffle is a dish made from leavened Batter (cooking), batter or dough that is cooked between two plates that are patterned to give a characteristic size, shape, and surface impression. There are many variations based on the type of waffle iron ...

. The building, completed in 1969, won the Massey Medal in 1970. In 1993, the MacMillan Bloedel company composed an agenda of expanding its logging into new areas and refused to abandon its plans to clearcut a significant portion of the temperate rain forest around

Clayoquot Sound Clayoquot Sound is located on the west coast of Vancouver Island in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia. It is bordered by the Esowista Peninsula to the south, and the Hesquiaht Peninsula to the North. ...

on the west coast of

, in spite of opposition from several organizations.

Environmentalist Environmentalism is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of Green politics, g ...

s, together with private land owners and indigenous groups, launched the Clayoquot protests after discovering that MacMillan Bloedel was logging in one of the most pristine areas around Clayoquot Sound — a clear violation of the recommendations made by top government-chosen scientists. This logging, however, was approved by the Ministry of Forests and was within the Tree Farm License (TFL) granted for that area to MacMillan Bloedel by the provincial government. The Science Panel for Sustainable Forest Practices in Clayoquot Sound was formed after 850 people were arrested for blockading MacMillan Bloedel's logging in Clayoquot in the summer of 1993. The Science Panel made stringent recommendations which MacMillan Bloedel promised to abide by, a commitment MacMillan Bloedel used to assure their international newsprint and phone directory paper customers that they should keep buying from the Canadian logging giant. MacMillan Bloedel made a commitment to phase out clearcutting and embrace the variable retention method of harvesting timber, but was occasionally accused of falling short of the commitment.

Acquisition by Weyerhaeuser

In June 1999,

announced its intention to buy MacMillan Bloedel Limited of Canada for stock valued at about

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

2.45 billion. The merger made Weyerhaeuser, which at that time was already the world's largest producer of

softwood Scots pine, a typical and well-known softwood Softwood is wood from gymnosperm trees such as conifers. The term is opposed to hardwood, which is the wood from angiosperm trees. The main differences between hardwoods and softwoods is that the sof ...

lumber and market pulp, a leader in

packaging Packaging is the science, art and technology of enclosing or protecting products for distribution, storage, sale, and use. Packaging also refers to the process of designing, evaluating, and producing packages. Packaging can be described as a coo ...

as well.

Leadership

President

# Maj-Gen Bertram Hoffmeister, 1951–1955 # Harry S. Berryman, 1956 # Ralph M. Shaw, 1957–1959 # Milton J. Foley, 1959–1960 # Ernest G. Shorter, 1961–1962 # Charles A. Specht, 1963–1967 # Robert W. Bonner, 1972 # Denis W. Timmis, 1973–1975 # C. Calvert Knudsen, 1976–1979 # Raymond V. Smith, 1980–1990 # Robert B. Findlay, 1990–1997 # W. Thomas Stephens, 1997–1999

Chairman of the Board

# H. R. MacMillan, 1951–1955 # Maj-Gen Bertram Hoffmeister, 1956–1957 # John Clyne, 1958–1972 # Robert W. Bonner, 1973 # George B. Currie, 1974–1975 # J. Ernest Richardson, 1978–1979 # C. Calvert Knudsen, 1980–1983 # Adam H. Zimmerman, 1983–1990 # Raymond V. Smith, 1990–1994 # Richard F. Haskayne, 1994–1999

References

Forests.org: MacMillan Bloedel Announces They May Stop Clearcutting Oldgrowth Forests

* Taylor, G.W., ''Timber: History of the Forest Industry in B.C.'', Vancouver, B.C.: J.J. Douglas, 1975.

External links

{{commons category, MacMillan Bloedel
Weyerhaeuser

MacMillan Bloedel Limited fonds
– A record of the company's history from the UBC Library Digital Collections
1958 film footage of the VanPly division
Defunct companies of British Columbia Pulp and paper companies of Canada Renewable resource companies established in 1951 Renewable resource companies disestablished in the 1990s Manufacturing companies established in 1951 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1999 Manufacturing companies based in Vancouver Weyerhaeuser Defunct pulp and paper companies 1951 establishments in British Columbia 1999 disestablishments in British Columbia