A Chinese billionaire and a California timber family have become among the largest private landowners in the U.S. following major purchases of Oregon forests, according to The Land Report, a magazine that details the top 100 private landowners in the U.S. The researchers found that Sierra Pacific Industries’ 2021 acquisition of 175,000 acres of forestland …in Douglas County, made the Redding, California based Emmerson Family the largest private landowner in the U.S. The family has 2.4 million acres of forests logged for timber in Oregon, California and Washington.  A Chinese billionaire, Tianqiao Chen, became the second largest foreign owner of U.S. land following the purchase of nearly 200,000 acres in Klamath and Deschutes counties nearly a decade ago. The Irving family of Canada is the largest foreign landowner, with more than 1.2 million acres of timberland in Maine. …Chen’s stake in Oregon has drawn the ire of U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer over Chen’s membership in the Chinese Communist Party.