CFMP managed more than 360,000 ha (890,000 acres) in the zones of Panguipulli, Neltume, Liquiñe and Chihuío, and had more than three thousand employees.
[1] In 1971 after several land occupations in the zone of Neltume informally known as Operación ardillas (Spanish for Operation Squirrels) the government of the UP expropriated the fundo Carranes from the Sociaded Agrícola y Maderera de Neltume creating the Complejo Maderero Panguipulli merging with it other expropriated lands reaching an area of 360.000 ha of wooded terrain.
He started a policy of sustainable development and responsible forest management avoiding monoculture and substitution of native species.
During the military regime, Julio Ponce Lerou, son-in-law of Augusto Pinochet, became president of Complejo Forestal y Maderero Panguipulli, a post he held until 1982.
During the later days of the Pinochet Regime the neoliberal policies of the Chicago Boys were applied, substantially reducing state property holdings.