Duncan, British Columbia, Canada, 20 March 2008 –- Western Forest Products Inc. (TSX:WEF) today announced the close of the sale for cash of the site formerly occupied by a sawmill in New Westminster, British Columbia.

Sale proceeds for the property, less commission and other fees, totaled CAD 39.8 million, which will be used to retire a portion of the company’s long-term debt. Western’s financial statements for the first quarter of 2008 will include the profit on sale of the premises equal to CAD 8.8 million.

Western is an integrated Canadian forest products company and the largest coastal British Columbia woodland operator and lumber producer. It has an annual available harvest of approximately 7.5 million cubic meters of timber of which 7.3 million cubic meters is from Crown lands and lumber capacity in excess of 1.5 billion board feet from eight sawmills and four 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, and its products are sold in over 30 countries worldwide.