# The Collins Companies > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/The_Collins_Companies > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/The_Collins_Companies.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Collins_Companies > Source revision: 1327991176 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) American forest products company "Collins Wood" redirects here. For the Australian community, see [Collinswood, South Australia](/source/Collinswood%2C_South_Australia). This article needs more citations. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "The Collins Companies" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (April 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this message) Collins Type Private Industry Forest products Key people Eric Schooler (President) Cherida Collins Smith (Chair of the Board) Number of employees appx. 647 (2017) **Collins** is an American [forest products](/source/Forest_product) company that began operations in 1855. Headquartered in [Wilsonville, Oregon](/source/Wilsonville%2C_Oregon), Collins owns forests and operates sawmills in [Oregon](/source/Oregon), [California](/source/California), and [Pennsylvania](/source/Pennsylvania). Collins also manufactures [siding](/source/Siding_(construction)) and trim, [particleboard](/source/Particleboard), hardwood, and softwood lumber. ## History ### 19th century Truman Doud (TD) Collins began what was later known as the Collins Companies in 1855 at Turkey Run near Whig Hill, Pennsylvania.[1] He and five others, including his brother, Joseph Van Halen (JV) Collins, bought a steam mill and [timber](/source/Timber) from John Alexander. By 1864, TD Collins bought out the remaining partners including his brother. ### 20th century Before TD Collins died in 1914, he owned, along with others, a large number of sawmills in the Tionesta Valley of [Pennsylvania](/source/Pennsylvania), over 60,000 acres (240 km2) of timberland, the Tionesta Manufacturing Company, the Nebraska Box Mill, the Mayburg Chemical Plant, plus over 100 miles (160 km) of logging railroad, 41 miles (66 km) of [main line](/source/Main_line_(railway)), 25 locomotives, several oil companies, and a bank. Married to Mary Stanton Collins, they had one son, Everell (ES) Stanton Collins. Following TD's death, Everell took over the company. He moved the company westward, purchasing forestlands in northern California, Washington, and Oregon. By the time he died in 1940, ES Collins would oversee the operations of 15 timber, logging, railroad, and pulp & paper companies in four states, in addition to moving the company headquarters from Pennsylvania to [Portland, Oregon](/source/Portland%2C_Oregon). Following his father, [Truman W. Collins](/source/Truman_W._Collins) became president. During his years in the timber business he began implementing [sustainable forest management](/source/Sustainable_forest_management) practices. These practices contributed to the Collins Companies becoming the first privately owned forest products company in the United States to become [certified](/source/Certified) by the [Forest Stewardship Council](/source/Forest_Stewardship_Council). Truman Collins continued the family's charitable works including founding, among others, the **Collins Foundation**, the Collins Medical Trust, and the Collins/McDonald Trust. Following Truman's death in 1963, Truman's brother-in-law, Elmer Goudy took over the presidency, followed by his son, Alan Collins Goudy. Truman's wife, Maribeth Wilson Collins, also became involved in the company, serving first as president of The Collins Foundation and later as Chair of the Board of The Collins Companies. ### 21st century In 2005, Maribeth Collins stepped down and her daughter, Cherida Collins Smith, became Chair of the Board of The Collins Companies; Maribeth's son, Truman W. Collins, Jr., became president of the Collins Foundation; and her son, Terry Collins, a [forester](/source/Forester) with the company, became president of the Collins Timber Company. ## Environmental commitment Collins has committed to being responsible partners in land and resource management with a policy of change through leadership. Collins asserts that third-party, independent certification of forest lands is the best way to ensure the viability of the total forest ecosystem.[2] The company is also a member of [Forest Stewardship Council](/source/Forest_Stewardship_Council). In 1997 Collins began integrating the principles of [The Natural Step](/source/The_Natural_Step), an international organization dedicated to assisting organizations around the world use a systems-based approach to sustainable practices.[3] By adopting The Natural Step principles, Collins is working towards bringing sustainability to all their business operations.[2] As a commitment to land and resource stewardship, Collins joined *Climate Leaders*, a [U.S. Environmental Protection Agency](/source/United_States_Environmental_Protection_Agency) partnership to develop [climate change](/source/Climate_change) strategies. Collins has committed to reducing [greenhouse gases](/source/Greenhouse_gas) by 18% by 2010.[4] ## Sawmill locations Collins operates [sawmills](/source/Sawmill) in the following locations as of 2025[\[update\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Collins_Companies&action=edit):[5] - [Kane, Pennsylvania](/source/Kane%2C_Pennsylvania) - [Chester, California](/source/Chester%2C_California) - [Lakeview, Oregon](/source/Lakeview%2C_Oregon) ## FSC-certified forest locations - Collins Almanor Forest, [softwood](/source/Softwood): Chester, California[6] - Collins Lakeview Forest, [softwood](/source/Softwood): Lakeview, Oregon[7] - Collins Pennsylvania Forest, [hardwood](/source/Hardwood): Kane, Pennsylvania[8] ## Closed locations - Collins [Pacific albus](/source/Pacific_albus) Tree Farm, [hardwood](/source/Hardwood): [Boardman, Oregon](/source/Boardman%2C_Oregon). Closes September 2016.[9] ## See also - [List of companies based in Oregon](/source/List_of_companies_based_in_Oregon) - [Almanor Railroad](/source/Almanor_Railroad), a defunct rail line operated by the company ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Collins Company History"](https://www.collinsco.com/history/). Collins. Retrieved December 16, 2025. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-CC1_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-CC1_2-1) ["The Company - Collins"](http://www.collinsco.com/commitment/). *www.collinsco.com*. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** [The Natural Step:The Collins Companies' profile](https://web.archive.org/web/20090102004210/http://www.naturalstep.org/en/usa/collins-companies-portland-oregon-usa) retrieved June 29, 2009 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [Climate Leaders:The Collins Companies' profile](http://www.epa.gov/stateply/partners/partners/thecollinscompanies)[*[dead link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Link_rot)*] retrieved June 29, 2009 1. **[^](#cite_ref-Locations_5-0)** ["Sawmill Facilities for Lumber Production"](https://www.collinsco.com/facilities/). Collins. Retrieved December 16, 2025. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["Collins Almanor Forest Chain of Custody Certification by SCS"](http://www.scscertified.com/nrc/certificates/forest_collinsalmanor5yr.pdf) (PDF). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["Collins Lakeview Forest Chain of Custody Certification by SCS"](http://www.scscertified.com/nrc/certificates/forest_collinslakeview.pdf) (PDF). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** ["Collins Pennsylvania Forest Chain of Custody Certification by SCS"](http://www.scscertified.com/nrc/certificates/forest_collinspenn.pdf) (PDF). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** Giegerich, Andy. ["Collins closes Boardman plant, lays off 67 workers"](http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/blog/sbo/2016/07/collins-closes-boardman-plant-lays-off-67-workers.html). *[American City Business Journals](/source/American_City_Business_Journals)*. Retrieved July 23, 2016. ## Further reading - *Collins Pine: Lessons From a Pioneer*. Island Press. 1999. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [1-55963-621-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-55963-621-1). - *The Collins Story*. Collins Companies. 2005. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-9766777-0-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-9766777-0-9). - Zuckerman, Seth. "Old forestry", Sierra. Vol. 77, No. 2, (March/April 1992): p. 44 ## External links - [Official website](https://www.collinsco.com/) - [The Collins Foundation](https://www.collinsfoundation.org/) - [The Collins Medical Trust](https://www.collinsmedicaltrust.org/) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [The Collins Companies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Collins_Companies) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Collins_Companies?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.