Western Forest Products Appoints Don Demens as President

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - July 31, 2012) - The Board of Directors of Western Forest Products Inc. (TSX:WEF) ("Western" or "the Company") today announced the appointment of Don Demens as President of the Company, effective immediately.

Originally hired in 2009, Mr. Demens was later appointed Sr. Vice President, Sales and Manufacturing and in 2011 assumed the role of Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Demens has over 25 years of coastal forest industry experience including time spent in Japan.

"Don has been instrumental in the turnaround of Western. Under his leadership we have seen a change in business culture with a strong focus on margin. As a result, the Board has full confidence in appointing Don as President of Western. This appointment positions Western with a strong succession framework to build the future of the company," said Dominic Gammiero, Chairman and CEO.

Western Forest Products

Western is an integrated Canadian forest products company and the largest coastal British Columbia woodland operator and lumber producer with an annual available harvest of approximately 6.4 million cubic metres of timber of which approximately 6.2 million cubic metres is from Crown lands and lumber capacity in excess of 1 billion board feet from eight sawmills and three remanufacturing plants. Principal activities conducted by the Company include timber harvesting, reforestation, sawmilling logs into lumber and wood chips and value-added remanufacturing. Substantially all of Western's operations, employees and corporate facilities are located in the coastal region of British Columbia while its products are sold in over 25 countries worldwide.