By Autumn Demberger, AgInvesting Media
Resource Management Services (RMS) is one of the largest providers of timberland investment services in the world. With an eye toward sustainability and a deep desire to be a strong environmental steward, the RMS team is constantly looking toward the next best steps that align with its goal of optimizing the biological, financial and societal value of each forest asset it manages.
The company itself celebrated 75 years of service in 2025 and is looking toward the next chapter of partnership, forestry investment and sustainability.
Below, Alex Hinson, president and CEO of RMS, shares some of the key areas the team is focusing on, from resilience to real estate trends impacting the housing market.
Global AgInvesting: To get us started, can you share how you found yourself working in the agriculture/timberland space?
Alex Hinson: I grew up on a family farm in rural South Carolina. I like to think my childhood and early adulthood experiences gave me an affinity for the land. My love of land extends to not only my recreational pursuits but also my professional ones. I have been lucky to find a career that lets me be close to, if not on, the land regularly.
I feel fortunate to have job responsibilities that allow me to impact acres, forests, and ecosystems that RMS has been entrusted to manage.
GAI: What are the current trends you are watching in the timberland space? Are there any that stand out as something that should be on our radars going into 2027?
AH: I believe that 2027 will be an opportunity for the institutional timberland asset class to demonstrate its core performance characteristics. I expect well-managed forest assets to deliver value resilience and cash flow stability in a period of uncertainty.
I expect 2027 to be marked by ongoing ambiguity in the U.S. housing market and restructuring in the pulp and paper sector. However, an engaged timberland manager will be able to generate attractive returns via both timber and land-based income. Furthermore, the biological growth features of high-quality forests will continue to provide attractive investment portfolio characteristics. Institutional capital will continue to flow into the space, providing stable, if not increasing timberland pricing.
Timberland’s financial performance will be complemented, as always, by exceptional sustainability qualities.
GAI: RMS recently stepped into the Pacific Northwest timberland market through a strategic land exchange with Rayonier Inc. Can you share how this decision came about and what it means for both the future of RMS and the organizations it serves?
AH: RMS maintains active dialogue with other high-quality timberland managers. Occasionally, these relationships and discussions uncover mutually beneficial transaction opportunities. The Rayonier exchange is a great example of a transaction that benefitted both parties and was born from each counterparty’s willingness to understand the other’s business model and objectives.
GAI: In your words, why is sustainable forest management key in the timber space? How does RMS measure and monitor sustainability in its practices?
AH: Managing forest sustainability is a fundamental and critical component of success for any timberland manager. Without an active dedication to sustainable practices and sustainability performance indicators, a managed forest will cease to be productive across a variety of both financial and non-financial measures. Said differently, RMS is strongly committed to sustainably managing our forests so that we can continue to manage the forests. RMS sustainability as a privately held company is inexorably connected to the sustainability of our assets under management.
Importantly, our investor partners expect us to be stewards of their assets that provide appropriate distributions and marks to market. They also expect us to tend to their forests so that they can represent to the benefits their forests provide even beyond cash flows and values. RMS success rests on stewardship outcomes from timberland management as well as financial results. Our investor partners are keen to know that their forest assets are providing nature and climate benefits to their neighbors, constituents, and the world at large.
Lastly, foresters like me chose their profession because of an affinity, if not love, for forests. We take great pleasure and reward in helping a forest be healthy and helping it remain so indefinitely.
GAI: I read that RMS will be working with the Cowlitz Indian Tribe on the Grays River property in Washington as part of the Rayonier deal. Why is it important to work with local indigenous groups when entering a new region?
AH: RMS views being a good partner to its neighbors and to groups with an interest in our managed forests a fundamental responsibility. Being a good neighbor is key to being a good steward and to managing sustainably.
In our relationship with the Cowlitz Indian Tribe, we have the opportunity to be a good neighbor and a force for good for several critical fish species. We take this opportunity to be important and to be really exciting. We look forward to working alongside the Cowlitz Indian Tribe to improve fish habitat in a unique location that is important to the fish and the Tribe.
GAI: I noticed that 2025 marked RMS’s 75th anniversary. How would you say timberland investment management has evolved over these 75 years? What initiatives are you focused on as it continues to evolve?
AH: RMS has been fortunate to manage commercial forests for a long time, through much of the history of commercial forestry. This history gives us a unique perspective on the business and on the current environment for forest managers.
RMS’ business tends to match the maturation of timberland investing. In our earliest decades we sold services to mostly private landowners. In many cases, we explained why commercial forest management was a good idea. In the middle part of our history, we helped introduce institutional capital to forestry. As an asset manager, we experienced and helped drive the transition of acres from manufacturing-based owners to investment-oriented owners. More recently, we have been able to act as both fiduciary and asset manager. This chapter in our history has been especially rewarding, as we have brought together financial and forest outcomes in our service offering.
I believe that our long history of demonstrated performance and flexibility for different types of landowners strongly suggests that we will be able to carry forward as a successful and respected timberland investment manager. I believe this will be the case even if and when the financial and non-financial expectations of forests change. RMS welcomes new and different expectations for timberland performance because we are confident we can meet or exceed them. We treasure our relationships with timberlands and timberland owners. Our enjoyment of the business makes the work a pleasure and makes challenges rewarding.
GAI: Is there something about timberland, sustainability, or even just the business as a whole that you think people often underestimate?
AH: Although we are clearly seeing growing appreciation for managed forests, I think commercial forestry is still underappreciated. As foresters and forestry investment professionals, we have lots of room left to explain that forests provide healthy habitats, irrefutable climate benefits, jobs and recreation, while also providing appropriate rates of return to timberland owners.
Relatedly, we have room to represent that commercial forests can and do provide forest products that are part of a larger sustainability story.
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