SPOKANE, WA - BuildingGreen, Inc., publisher of Environmental Building News and GreenSpec(R), the leading directory of green building products, today named Potlatch Corporation's Forest Stewardship Council(R) (FSC) certified lumber and plywood products as one of 2004's Top-10 BuildingGreen products.

Potlatch's FSC-certified lumber and plywood products were selected from hundreds of environmentally friendly residential and commercial building materials and applications. In April of 2004, Potlatch became the first publicly traded U.S. forest products company to achieve FSC certification of its western forestland management practices and lumber and plywood products.

The annual Top-10 Green Building awards, presented this year at the U.S. Green Building Council's November 10 Greenbuild Conference in Portland, Oregon, recognize the most innovative and exciting green building products added to the GreenSpec(R) Directory during the past year. Listings in the directory, selected by the editors of Environmental Building News, cover a wide spectrum of products and applications employed in both commercial and residential structures. They include independently certified green materials, including those certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, as well as those that save energy and water or avoid toxic chemicals. The GreenSpec Directory is considered the industry's most comprehensive green building product resource and is used widely by architects, designers and contractors.

"We have worked diligently to achieve FSC certification of our forest management practices in Idaho, and certify our Idaho lumber and plywood manufacturing operations under the FSC chain-of-custody requirements," says Mike Urso, vice president of marketing for Potlatch's wood products and resource management divisions. "We are very proud to receive an award recognizing our continued efforts in environmental responsibility."

To qualify for FSC certification, Potlatch's Idaho forestland management practices successfully completed a rigorous third-party audit and its western lumber and plywood manufacturing operations were similarly audited to assure their products were consistent with FSC's chain-of-custody requirements. The company is currently assessing FSC certification for it forestlands in Arkansas and Minnesota as part of a company-wide commitment to third-party certification. Potlatch's 17,000-acre hybrid poplar operation in northeastern Oregon is also FSC certified in a separate category from the company's timberland.

FSC certification is one of the company's many achievements in environmental stewardship. The company's 1.5 million acres of U.S. forestland achieved certification under the Sustainable Forestry Intitiative(R) (SFI) in 2002 and simultaneously earned certification under the International Organization for Standardization's (ISO) 14001 Environmental Management System requirements.

For additional information about the Top-10 New Green Building Products Award, visit www.BuildingGreen.com.

To learn more about Potlatch's FSC certification, visit the company's Web site at www.PotlatchGoGreen.com.

Potlatch Corporation is an integrated forest products company with 1.5 million acres of timberland in Idaho, Minnesota and Arkansas. The company's forestland management practices and products have been third-party certified under the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) as meeting the highest standards of stewardship in the industry. Certified products include framing lumber made of hemlock fir, larch fir, Douglas fir and hybrid poplar, as well as decking, siding, boards, and finger-jointed boards made of red cedar. For more information about Potlatch, visit www.potlatchcorp.com.

This news release contains, in addition to historical information, certain forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on management's best estimates and assumptions regarding future events, and are therefore subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance. The company's actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. The company disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

Potlatch Corporation

Potlatch Corporation

Potlatch Corporation is a real estate investment trust, or REIT, that owns and manages 1.5 million acres of timberlands located in Arkansas, Idaho and Minnesota and a 17,000-acre hybrid poplar plantation in Oregon. Through a taxable REIT subsidiary we also operate 15 manufacturing facilities that are engaged in the production of commodity wood products and bleached pulp products. The company traces its history to the founding in 1903 of Potlatch Lumber Co.

More from Potlatch Corporation