AUGUST 2008: AROUND THE STATE
Timber harvest declines to recession-era levels
STATEWIDE Declining harvests from private forestland owners
pushed the state’s timber harvest to its smallest levels
since the recession-based record low in 2001.
An 11%, or 344-million-board-feet, decrease in volume
from forest industry landowners was accompanied by a 43%
decline in harvests on non-industrial private lands, according
to the Oregon Department of Forestry. Federal harvests remained
at historically low levels, accounting for less than 10% of the
cut. The federal government owns 51% of Oregon, much of it
forests.
The 2007 harvest dropped 12% from 2006, with a volume of 3.8
billion board feet.
“However, with relatively strong plywood demand and
nonresidential construction, and fewer log imports from
adjacent states, Oregon timber harvests declined less than half
of the percentage drop in national housing starts,” says
state forest economist Gary Lettman.
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