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In 2025, the Washington State Fair — one of the 10 largest state fairs in the United States — debuted an exhibit called Our Food, Our Farms, Our Washington. The intention was to deepen fair attendees’ connections to the state’s agricultural products and the people who grow them.

More than 85,000 fairgoers visited the exhibit. But organizers realized an important agricultural product was missing: trees.

“Timber is a significant commodity for the state of Washington,” says Alan Bruess, designer and project manager for the . “This year we decided to not only recognize the importance of timber, but make it an exhibit anchor. Of course, ¹ú²ú×ÔÅÄ needed to be involved.”

Justin Nikbakhsh, our vice president of Procurement, was thinking along similar lines.

“The fair is a big part of our community,” he says, “and it’s a really great way to showcase what our local industries are doing. Forestry is such an important part of Washington state agriculture, and ¹ú²ú×ÔÅÄ has been part of that story for our entire 126-year history.” 

A conversation between Alan and Justin blossomed into a collaboration, with ¹ú²ú×ÔÅÄ sourcing seed cones, seedlings and logs for the new forestry element of the agriculture exhibit.

The Our Food, Our Farms, Our Washington exhibit entrance.

GETTING TO THE FAIR

“The fair is very much rooted in agriculture,” says Alan, who has worked on various projects for the Washington State Fair in Puyallup for more than 20 years. “Our job is to be storytellers, to boil down all the information about these agricultural commodities into something understandable for the general fairgoer.”

Justin, whose father-in-law Gary Larson sits on the Fair Foundation board, had the same goal when thinking about how to add timber to the exhibit.

“I thought ¹ú²ú×ÔÅÄ could help tell the industry’s story and our part in it, in a way that highlights the good we do for the industry and the communities in which we operate,” Justin says.

Getting it right meant pulling together employees from ¹ú²ú×ÔÅÄ operations, Regeneration and our Enterprise Marketing & Communications team.

“This is an exciting opportunity for people to connect the dots in an experiential way, between the trees we grow and the sustainable wood products they’re made into,” says Amanda Vail, senior communications manager at our Seattle Headquarters. 

Amanda connected Alan with our people at both ends of the growing and production process — Auriel Day, nursery site leader in Rochester, and Craig “Odie” Bertsch, regional manager for Western ¹ú²ú×ÔÅÄ — to source seedlings and logs for the forestry exhibit element.

PUTTING OUR BEST PRODUCTS FORWARD

Odie and Jeremy Justice, operations specialist, sourced logs from our nearby Vail tree farm, selecting Douglas-fir stems representative of the trees we grow throughout the West.

Auriel and her team at Rochester selected seed cones and seedlings — which presented a unique challenge. As living trees, the seedlings would need to be cared for and watered over the duration of the exhibit.

“We supplied seedlings at two different stages of growth,” Auriel says. “They’re Douglas-fir seedlings, since that’s the bulk of what we grow and harvest for Western ¹ú²ú×ÔÅÄ. People don’t always understand the amount of care and time that goes into reforesting, and I want to share everything we do to ensure forests and forest products last for generations.”

And though we’re a big part of the exhibit, we’re not the only part. It also draws on smaller timber producers in the state and two universities — Oregon State University and Washington State University.

THE TAKE-HOME

“The exhibit was very well received last year,” Alan says. “The ultimate report card comes from the fairgoers. We want everybody who comes to this exhibit to either want to go into agriculture, or to wish they had.”

This year’s exhibit not only showcases timber and forest products on the same level as other Washington agricultural products; it also highlights the importance of these commodities to the state overall.

 “My hope is that this year, visitors will learn about how our industry operates, and how innovative and creative our people are,” Justin says. “I'm proud of what our company does, and it’s awesome that we get to share our story with so many people.”

For Amanda, the forestry element is about showing the industry’s economic contributions and commitment to sustainability in a concrete way.

“Many people have seen log trucks, but it's another thing to get up close to a log next to the tiny seedlings it grew from decades earlier,” Amanda says. “Seedlings grow into giant trees, and those trees become sustainable wood products.”

Now in its 126th year, the runs for 21 days in September (Sept. 4 – 27 this year) and draws attendees from all over the state.