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By Dominic Cyr
Irving Woodlands is a very welcoming company. It allows its employees to be part of the community to support their children in school activities and sports, even during their workday. Irving has excellent Public Relations (PR), and it is one of the biggest sponsors for the Can-Am 250, which helps build the community's economy. This business makes sure its employees are well taken care of and works to maintain the forest for long-term success while allowing public access to its private land.
The main operation was started in 1947 when 250 thousand acres of land in Maine were purchased by J.D. Irving of Canada. In 1999, Irving purchased another one million acres. With the million acres came a sawmill and other small value-added businesses. In 2014, their sawmill business, Irving Forest Products, rebuilt a world-class sawmill in Nashville Plantation, Maine. Irving Woodlands offers internships as summer jobs for college students who want to work. There are 79 full-time employees, of whom 49 are truck drivers, forestry machinery operators, and mechanics, and 30 of them are technical forest specialists, operational supervisors, or managers.
Irving Woodlands sign in front of the Main Office
Community High School student interviewing Cyr
Irving Woodlands’ main operation is responsible for 1.255 million acres of land management. This operation includes many different job types to run the company smoothly, such as road maintenance, truck drivers, machinery operators, and tree planters. Douglas Cyr is the Human Resources (HR) Manager at Irving Woodlands, and he explains, “My everyday work is dealing with various people's situations, from recruiting to finding talent to developing talent, managing employee-related situations, ensuring employees are properly trained, and keeping our employees engaged in growing.” According to Cyr, “The most interesting thing is that Irving Woodlands relies on the natural resources of our forest; it is very resilient, and through technology and science, we have been able to adapt our business to be able to grow here in Maine.” With all the new technology, Irving has been able to improve the different ways the forests are harvested. This openness to change is key to this company's success.
Many changes and challenges have affected Irving Woodlands over the years. One big change is the shrinking workforce, partly due to out-migration and an older population that is nearing retirement. This is the reason why recruiting and partnering in the local schools, such as the St. John Valley Technical Center and the University of Maine, as well as other areas of the United States and the world is important. Dealing with market swings on various products also offers challenges, as well as new tariffs. Even the environment causes devastation sometimes. “Spruce budworm caused us to harvest some of our wood early so we wouldn’t lose it. With early intervention, we were able to mitigate a lot of the loss, but it still required us to go in and harvest early to salvage future losses. With a partnership with the State of Maine and other landowners, we were able to treat our forest to lessen the negative impact of spruce budworm,” Cyr mentioned. It is an interesting industry because of all the different impacts, with everything from nature to government changes.
Currently, the company owns ten sawmills, four value-added plants, and one pellet mill throughout eastern Canada, New York, and Maine. The company is always looking at trying to make sure that it is balanced across all its forest products businesses, including its pulp mill. With regards to expansion, Irving is continuously looking for ways to improve and grow in the markets that it operates in, such as the recent purchase of a sawmill in Masardis, Maine, in 2025.
Map of the Irving Woodlands property in the United States and Canada
Maine Woodlands sign in front of the Main Office
Irving Woodlands prioritizes its employees as if they were family. This family business started in Canada by Mr. James Dergavel Irving in 1882, was passed down through generations, and now positively impacts families in Maine, especially in Aroostook County. The business has truly kept its reputation of being good to its forest and families.
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