Environmental Issues in Pacific Northwest Forest Management (2000) / Chapter Skim
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6 Products from the Forests
6 Products from the Forests
Pages 122-159
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From page 122... ...
it examines the implications of changes in the use and management of Pacific Northwest forests for those products. The charge to the committee in its statement of task was drafted before adoption of the Northwest Forest Plan and at a time when the reg~on's wood products economy and management of its forests was changing rapidly.
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From page 123... ...
1996~. At the same time, per capita consumption in the United States of the kind of timber that is the main product of Pacific Northwest forests—softwood saw~ogs and softwood veneer logs shows no strong upward trenct (USES 1994~.
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S Softwood Lumber fig ~ _ \ .
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U.S. production, imports, exports, and consumption of softwood timber products, excluding fue~wood, 1978-1997 (in million cubic feet roundwood equivalent)
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From page 126... ...
those from federal forests for many years in Washington, the spread has widened considerably since 1988 (Figure 6-4~. Douglas-fir and hemlock from the region west of the Cascades summit are the main softwood lumber species from the Pacific Northwest that compete generally in construction markets with softwood lumber from British Columbia, the Rocky Mountains, the southern United States, and eastern Canada.
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From page 127... ...
oRFED FIGURE 6-3. Federal and private timber harvests by state, Washington and Oregon, 1987-1997 (in minion board feet)
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From page 128... ...
128 Pacific Northwest Forests MT.~D amber Hawesm boom I 300 2ao ~ A , ~ {~, i.: , ~ ~ IN \ A y ~ , \\ \ \/ 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 + MTPRIV ~ Mall - ~ IOPRIV ~ I0FED FIGURE 6~. Federal and private timber harvests by state, Montana andIdaho,1987-1997(m~lion board feet)
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From page 129... ...
softwood lumber consumption, about the same as the southern United States (Figure 6-7~. The Pacific Northwest also once produced r~lyallc£thena~s softwood plywo 0 it, mainly from large old Douglas-fir.
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From page 130... ...
84 ~ J ~ t I I ~ 1 t t t t ~ ~ J T ~ -by- 1 ~ - ~ - ~ ~~ 66 88 90 92 ~ 9& + WAlOR ~ C~IF ~ ~,~ ~ SO~H FIGURE 6-5. Softwood lumber production by U.S.
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From page 131... ...
~ me_ _—- \ ~ 1 1 1 ~ 1 ~ 76 78 80 —PLWA/~R ~ PLYSOU + PLYR:I5ST - - OSSTOT FIGURE 6-6. Annual softwood plywood and oriented strandboard (OSB)
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From page 132... ...
U.S. softwood lumber and softwood log imports and exports, 1978-1997 (in miDionboar~feet)
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From page 133... ...
Changes in the markets for wood products occasioned by the cutback in Pacific Northwest federal timber harvests spread throughout the nation's timber economy (Haynes and Adams 1992~. Prices for standing timber (stumpage)
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From page 134... ...
I34 Pacific Northwest Forests Ski Timber P606$ I A 400 ^ 350 30()
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From page 135... ...
The major areas of unexploitect softwood forests in North America at the time the Northwest Forest Plan was adopted were in eastern Canada and, to a lesser extent, in western Canada. The United States has practically no softwood timber (other than that in reserved status)
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From page 136... ...
Relying on harvesting primary forests in other regions to substitute for Pacific Northwest harvests may provide only short-term relief in the absence of substantial investments in more intensive forest practices. increased Harvests at the intensive Margin Some substitution for reduced federal timber harvests in the Pacific Northwest has come from forests, especially private forests in the South and the Pacific Northwest, that wiD have to be managed more intensively (the intensive margin)
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From page 137... ...
The role of intensively managed tree plantations in South America, New Zealand, Australia, and Africa in providing wood products is also likely to increase and, to a degree, substitute for federal timber from the Pacific Northwest in world markets. Because of high growth rates relative to forests in temperate zones, one estimate is that plantations, often of nonindigenous species such as eucalyptus, that are managed intensively could supply the equivalent of the current world demand for industrial wood from as little as 4 percent of the global forest area (Seiko and Botkin 1997~.
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From page 138... ...
In particular, steel studs used In framing houses and aluminum and vinyl siding are substituting for Pacific Northwest wood products. Recycled wastepaper is also usect in making fiber-based products to an increasing extent in the United States and worldwide (Ince 1994~.
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From page 139... ...
Canacia account for most of the substitution for rectuced federal softwood timber harvests. Although some observers expected increased harvests from private forests in the Pacific Northwest in response to the reductions in federal harvests, private harvests have remained more or less level since 1987 in Oregon, Montana, and Idaho and have fallen somewhat in Washington (Figures 6-3 and 6-4~.
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From page 140... ...
State laws, as well as federal regulations, guide and constrain forest management practices on private forests. The five Pacific Northwest states have some of the strongest laws regulating forest practices in the country (Ellefson et al.
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From page 141... ...
/MPL/CAT/ONS FOR OTHER REGIONS The likelihood of more intensive forest management in other regions of the United States as a result of cutbacks in federal timber harvests in the Pacific Northwest raises questions about the ability of the nation as a whole to pursue the goals of forest management identified in this report. For example, can viable populations of indigenous forest species be sustained in the eastern United States if wood products production increases to fill the gap caused by the reduction in Pacific Northwest harvests?
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From page 142... ...
Softwood forests in the northeast and north central regions been under adclitional pressure as a result of reductions in federal timber harvests in the West. But most of the pressure has fallen on the South and on southern pine timber, which is managed for both saw~ogs and pulpwood.
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From page 143... ...
. Further increases in response to reductions in federal softwood timber harvests in the West are likely to come from an expanded area of plantings.
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From page 144... ...
EFFECTS ON REGIONAL AND NATIONAL INCOME The reductions in federal timber harvests in the Pacific Northwest have led to some shifts in income among regions and have created some winners and losers. Regions that have seen increases in timber harvests (i.e., the South)
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From page 145... ...
As overall demands on forest resources rise, the changes in use of federal forests in response to the Northwest Forest Plan and other initiatives will continue to change the range of incentives, market and otherwise, facing owners and managers of private forests in both the Pacific Northwest and other affected regions. The basic demands for materials, space, and environmental amenities will almost certainly continue to increase for the foreseeable future.
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From page 146... ...
But the changes that will occur in the character of the Pacific Northwest forests relative to what is likely to have occurred in the absence of the plan, such as the added area of oldgrowth reserves, may lead to shifts in patterns of recreation and other aspects of lifestyles. Such shifts in turn are likely to create new and unknown incentives for management and use of private forests.
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From page 147... ...
Available information is used in the sections below to respond to the committee's charge in the statement of task that it "review the use of forest products from the Pacific Northwest and the degree to which forest products from other parts of the United States can be substituted for them." Most of the nonwood products of Pacific Northwest forests are not sold in national markets and do not have readily obvious substitutes from other regions of the United States. As a result, the available information does not permit a discussion of nonwood products that is parallel to that for wood products in the earlier sections of this chapter.
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From page 148... ...
748 ~ 1~ 1~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~1= ED ~ oo ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ oo ~ ~ ~ by Lo ~ ~ or ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ O ~ ~ ~ cn c~ ~ ~ ~ or ~ *
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From page 149... ...
(1999) project a decline in big-game hunting in the Pacific Coast states ancl an increase in the Rocky Mountain states through 2050.
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From page 150... ...
750 Pacific Northwest Forests TABLE 64. Comparison of Hunting Statistics from Three Regions of Idaho, Illustrating the Effect of Access and Forest Conditions Region Estimated ells population ELk (number/square mile)
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From page 151... ...
The changing trencEs in recreation use present no clear picture for the Pacific Northwest. Nationally, people are traveling shorter distances and spending less money per recreation visit, ancE cteveloped-area camping is increasing while backcountry camping is decreasing (USFS 1988b)
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From page 152... ...
152 ·_1 Cal .$ o .O Cal lo; a; ·_' o U: U)
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From page 153... ...
Changes in forest management brought about by the Northwest Forest Plan will affect the future mix of available recreation opportunities in the region. Fisheries Streams that emerge from or run through Pacific Northwest forests support important regional fisheries.
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From page 154... ...
In 1974, a poor year for salmon, sport fishing accounted for 65 % of the total value of salmon from the Columbia River, including commercial, sport ocean fishing, and river fishing. The value of ocean sport and ocean commercial fishing were about equal, but river sport fishing contributed nearly 6 times the value of river commercial fishing (Powe]
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From page 155... ...
The use of wild mushrooms is the example chosen here for discussion to represent a broad and varied set of nonwood products of Pacific Northwest forests. Commercial harvesting of mushrooms provides income for some people in the Pacific Northwest.
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From page 156... ...
Water Water is an important nonwood product of Pacific Northwest forests, but one that received little attention in the Northwest Forest Plan. The Northwest is generally well watered, and water usage is not threatened by limited supplies.
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From page 157... ...
But the reductions in Pacific Northwest federal timber harvests as a result of the Plan will also: · Favor some kinds of wildlife, game and nongame species, over others . Affect hunting conditions and hunters' expectations · improve habitat for anadromous and inland sport fisheries · Maintain some kinds of backcountry recreation opportunities Information on the effects of adopting the Northwest Forest Plan on nonwood forest products in the Pacific Northwest is spotty.
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From page 158... ...
REGIONAL ECONOMIC EFFECTS Estimating the regional economic effect of shifts in the proportions of woocE and nonwood products resulting from reductions in federal timber harvests in the Pacific Northwest is difficult. For example, the extent to which timber harvests are competitive with or complementary to nonwood products is not clear.
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From page 159... ...
Nonwood forest products in the Pacific Northwest for the most part are not competitive with similar forest products from other regions. The extent to which their availability to markets within the Pacific Northwest has been affected by adoption of the Northwest Forest Plan is generally unclear due to lack of information based on research results.
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