EXHIBIT 99.2

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts:  John M. Rudey                    Stefanie King
           U.S. Timberlands Company, L.P    Edelman Financial
           (212) 755-1100                   (212) 704-8291



                   U.S. TIMBERLANDS NAMES THOMAS C. THEOBALD
                             TO BOARD OF DIRECTORS


KLAMATH FALLS, Ore.,  January 5, 1998 -- U.S. Timberlands Company, L.P. (Nasdaq:
TIMBZ) announced today that Thomas C. Theobald has been elected to the Board of
Directors of the Company's General Partner and named Chairman of the Finance
Committee.

Theobald, 60, is currently Managing Director, William Blair Capital Partners,
L.L.C.  Prior to joining William Blair, Mr. Theobald was Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer of Continental Bank Corporation, which was acquired by
BankAmerica in 1994.  Before joining Continental Bank in 1987, Mr. Theobald was
Vice Chairman of Citicorp and Citibank N.A.  Throughout his 27 year tenure with
Citicorp, he successively headed consumer banking in Australia, investment and
management worldwide, corporate banking globally, and investment banking
worldwide.

Mr. Theobald is a 1958 magna cum laude graduate of Holy Cross College and earned
his MBA from Harvard Graduate School of Business where he was a Baker Scholar.

John M. Rudey, chairman of U.S. Timberlands, stated, "We are pleased to have
attracted to U.S. Timberlands an executive whose extensive experience will be
integral to the growth and development of our business.  As we enter our first
full year as a public company, Tom's counsel as a member of our Board will be
invaluable."

Thomas C. Theobald, commented, "I look forward to working with the other members
of the Board and participating in the future of this exciting company."

U.S. Timberlands Company, L.P. owns approximately 630,000 fee acres of
timberland and cutting rights on approximately 3,000 acres of timberland
containing total merchantable timber volume estimated to be approximately 2.2
billion board feet in Oregon east of the Cascade Range.  U.S. Timberlands
specializes in the growing of trees and the sale of logs and standing

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timber.  Logs harvested from the timberlands are sold to unaffiliated domestic
conversion facilities.  These logs are processed for sale as lumber, plywood and
other wood products, primarily for the use in new residential home construction,
home remodeling and repair and general industrial applications.  The Company
also owns and operates its own seed orchard and produces approximately five
million conifer seedlings annually from its nursery, approximately half of which
are used for its own internal reforestation programs, with the balance sold to
other forest products companies.

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