Hit by a struggling US housing market, the Oregon timber industry saw harvests tumble 12% from 4.33 billion board feet in 2006 to 3.8 billion board feet in 2007. This is the smallest Oregon timber harvest since 2001 and continues a steady decline since 2004.
“However,” said Gary Lettman, forest economist with the Oregon Department of Forestry, “with relatively strong plywood demand and non-residential construction, and fewer log imports from adjacent states, Oregon timber harvests declined less than half of the percentage drop in national housing starts.”
Lower timber harvest volumes are said to have resulted from declining harvests from private forestland owners. An 11%, or 344 million board feet, decrease in volume from forest industry land owners was accompanied by a 43% decline in harvests on non-industrial private lands, which declined from 422 million board feet in 2006 to 240 million board feet in 2007.
Timber harvests were down in both western and eastern Oregon. Harvests in western Oregon declined 11% from 2006 levels, driven primarily by the 44% decrease on non-industrial private lands, from 351 million board feet to 198 million board feet.
The percentage of timber harvests that have come from eastern Oregon has declined from 31% in 1991 to 11% in 2007. In eastern Oregon, much of the 23% overall harvest decrease can be attributed to a 97 million board feet harvest reduction by forest industry landowners.
