Tree Improvement Leadership

The highest tree farm returns begin with the best plant material. GreenWood Resources owns and operates one of the foremost hybrid poplar breeding and research stations in the world. Originally developed in 1978 by the Crown Zellerbach Corporation and continued by the Fort James Corporation, our tree improvement program has been under the leadership of Dr. Brian Stanton since 1986.

We have more than 100 acres of research land located in Oregon and Mississippi where we breed both improved parent material as well as their hybrid offspring from our private nursery stock. We've assembled one of the largest and most diverse collections of P. deltoides and P. trichocarpa breeding material and have created over 40,000 varieties of hybrid poplar. Every year, we introduce new varieties for commercial deployment.

Our poplar hybridization efforts through classical breeding have improved yields by more than 30% over the past 20 years. The result: trees that can grow more than an inch in height each day and well over an inch in diameter each year. And our hybrids are disease- and pest-resistant, which means lower maintenance and environmental impact.

The demand for high-value hardwoods such as alder continues to outstrip available supply. We are leveraging our tree improvement expertise in poplar to become the premier hardwood tree-improvement and plant-material developer for other hardwood species such as alder, eucalyptus, acacia, teak and paulownia, with a focused management strategy on agricultural lands.