Huber Timber Expands Its Timberland Holdings in Maine With Acquisition of Sandy Gray Forest

J.M. Huber Corporation recently announced (12-18-23) that its timberland ownership entity Huber Timber LLC (HT) had expanded its timberland holdings in Maine. On December 11th, 2023, HT acquired the Sandy Gray Forest, a parcel of land with an interesting history and strategic importance to the company.

The Sandy Gray Forest is a 100,013-acre (40,473 hectares) contiguous tract of timberland located in northern Maine and what HT is calling a long-term investment hold. With the acquisition, HT’s total timberland ownership is now approximately 130,000 acres (52,609 hectares). This is a significant step in the continued advancement of HT’s timberland acquisition strategy that began with the purchase of two tracts of land in 2022 and 2023.

The Sandy Gray acquisition, along with recent and potential future purchases, is part of Huber’s continued investment and proud ownership in sustainable forestry.

The property also includes a 20-mile section (32 km) of Maine’s famed “Golden Road,” a 96-mile private road built by Great Northern Paper Company (GNP) between 1969 and 1972 that stretches from the St. Zacharie Border Crossing on the Canadian border to GNP’s former mill in Millinocket, Maine. It was built to bring raw wood to the mill from GNP’s 2.1 million acres of woodland in the Maine North Woods. Before the road was built, logs were floated down the river to the mill. There are different stories about the road’s name. Some believe it was named the Golden Road due to the cost of building it. Others believe the road was named due to the dirt being so yellow, which made it appear gold.