The Oregon timber harvest rose to 4.2 billion board feet last year, marking four straight years of improvement from the recession low of 2.72 billion board feet in 2009, the Oregon Department of Forestry said Tuesday.
“This was the first harvest above four billion board feet in seven years,” said ODF principal economist Brandon Kaetzel, “and represents a 12 percent increase over the 2012 harvest of 3.75 billion board feet.”
Approximately 49 percent, or 30.2 million acres, of Oregon is forested. Federal forestlands account for 60 percent of these forestlands, industrial forestlands for 19 percent, family forestland owners own 15 percent, state-owned forests comprise 3 percent, and all other forestland owners (counties, tribal, etc.), 3 percent.
Timber harvest increases can be attributed to a strong export market for Oregon logs in 2013, coupled with a domestic market recovery, particularly in housing. Whether this trend will continue for the 2014 harvest is uncertain due to housing forecasts being revised to lower numbers and a sudden cool-down in the export market that occurred during the second quarter of the year.
The largest increase in harvest came from non-industrial private forestlands, where harvests increased 61 percent to 511 million board feet from the 2012 total of 318 million board feet. “This is most likely due to small forestland owners taking advantage of higher prices as a result of a still strong export market in 2013,” Kaetzel said. The harvest on industrial forestlands rose from 2.56 billion board feet in 2012 to 2.75 billion board feet in 2013, for an eight percent increase in harvest.
From KTVZ.com: https://www.ktvz.com/news/oregon-timber-harvest-highest-in-seven-years/26969014