The improving demand for Pacific Northwest timber has strained logging and hauling capacity due to lack of investment in equipment during the housing downturn. A lack of work also convinced many loggers to seek employment in the oil and gas industries.
The rebounding market for Pacific Northwest logs has raised questions about the timber industry’s ability to keep up with demand, experts say. Strong exports to Asia and the recovering housing market have boosted log prices and harvest levels since the depth of the timber downturn in 2009, according to analysts at a recent industry conference.
While current logging levels are still lower than in the mid-2000s, concerns about tight log supplies are emerging, said Rocky Goodnow, an executive at Forest Economic Advisors.
“We think we’re rapidly approaching the sustainable (harvest) yield,” he said during a recent conference organized by the Western Forestry and Conservation Association in Vancouver, Wash.
The harvest of logs along the West Coast exceeded the rate of timber growth between 2004 and 2006, he said. During the housing bust, though, logging levels plummeted well below the tree growth rate, boosting the inventory of timber.
From Capital Press: https://www.capitalpress.com/article/20140126/ARTICLE/140129912/1169