What happened to the lumber industry? (Green: foreclosures, employment, construction)

[YellowHorse]

I keep reading among the threads about this town or that town being depressed because its economy was based on lumber and the lumber industry has dried up.
I haven't lived in Oregon for more than 15 years, but growing up there and in my early adult years I remember a thriving lumber industry. Now I read in many threads the lumber industry, and along with it, the economy has gone south. Did it burst with the "housing bubble?" I still see a lot of construction and I know Oregon is a major lumber supplier for a good part of the USA (unless supplying the nation is what changed).

[5thgenSF]

Originally Posted by YellowHorse

I keep reading among the threads about this town or that town being depressed because its economy was based on lumber and the lumber industry has dried up.
I haven't lived in Oregon for more than 15 years, but growing up there and in my early adult years I remember a thriving lumber industry. Now I read in many threads the lumber industry, and along with it, the economy has gone south. Did it burst with the "housing bubble?" I still see a lot of construction and I know Oregon is a major lumber supplier for a good part of the USA (unless supplying the nation is what changed).

i'm sure somebody will give you a better answer on the lumber industry, but yes, it isn't what it was in days past. there is a lumber mill in sutherlin and there are a few in roseburg. i hear the workers often get laid off so many days a month and then return to work later. somebody posted that a lot of lumber is now imported. the economy is definitely not good but my accountant tells me it never really was. apparently a government subsidy has been given to offset the curtailment of lumber production and so many years were given before that subsidy would be cut off. then they got an extension. the purpose was to give the towns time to come up with an alternate industry and it seems they have not succeeded. and now that the subsidy is or will be ceasing, certain city services no longer get funding (i.e. libraries). i've been here seven years and i didn't realize the employment situation would be so difficult. the housing crash has hit here hard and so jobs declined along with that. lots of foreclosures. lots of restaurants that were here when i came are now closed. and lots of small businesses that have started up through the years have not lasted long either. for awhile they had jobs in roseburg at dell, but dell left and all those people lost their jobs.

i hope to be leaving here soon. no reason to stay!

[karlsch]

This is a part of the answer:
Business | A brief history of the spotted-owl controversy | Seattle Times Newspaper

The celebrity owl continued:
The Spotted Owl's New Nemesis | Science & Nature | Smithsonian Magazine

[StealthRabbit]

Owl
Greenies
EPA
NAFTA (Canadian Imports, better and cheaper)
Lower Production costs in China (milling/paper/chemical)
USFS rif's the forest managers
USFS contract regulations


3 strikes and your OUT. with the seven strikes above you're WORSE than OUT... Crippled for life

THINK... all the above are related to POLITICS, NOT Environment or community Economic Development / sound business principles

OREGON vote is controlled by persons W/O a timber (or business) interest. Most voters are 'employees / students/ retired / unemployed' NOT job creators, farmers (timber or otherwise).

[hamellr]

Don't forget the crash of the Japanese Economy, where a lot of lumber exports from Oregon were headed in the late 1980's.

[PNW-type-gal]

Canada is the #1 softwood supplier, to the US and the world, pretty much. US mills can't compete on raw or finished lumber, so many of them are specialty mills.

US/Canada lumber dispute

[YellowHorse]

Originally Posted by karlsch

This is a part of the answer:
Business | A brief history of the spotted-owl controversy | Seattle Times Newspaper

The celebrity owl continued:
The Spotted Owl's New Nemesis | Science & Nature | Smithsonian Magazine

Oh yes, I remember the spotted owl controversy.

I'm also not surprised about the lumber being imported now, seems all our jobs are being shipped overseas. I can't believe that the industry was "never good" though, especially since the most sought after lumber I see in lumber yards is the douglas fir from Oregon.

[YellowHorse]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

Owl
Greenies
EPA
NAFTA (Canadian Imports, better and cheaper)
Lower Production costs in China (milling/paper/chemical)
USFS rif's the forest managers
USFS contract regulations


3 strikes and your OUT. with the seven strikes above you're WORSE than OUT... Crippled for life

THINK... all the above are related to POLITICS, NOT Environment or community Economic Development / sound business principles

OREGON vote is controlled by persons W/O a timber (or business) interest. Most voters are 'employees / students/ retired / unemployed' NOT job creators, farmers (timber or otherwise).

Yep, I guess that would do it

Don't forget the crash of the Japanese Economy, where a lot of lumber exports from Oregon were headed in the late 1980's.

Canada is the #1 softwood supplier, to the US and the world, pretty much. US mills can't compete on raw or finished lumber, so many of them are specialty mills.

US/Canada lumber dispute

A producing to consuming transition = economic collapse

[5thgenSF]

Originally Posted by YellowHorse

I can't believe that the industry was "never good" though, especially since the most sought after lumber I see in lumber yards is the douglas fir from Oregon.

not sure if you're quoting me...but i was saying the economy previously was not good, not the lumber specifically.

[Larry Caldwell]

The lumber industry is not unique. Most of the family wage jobs that supported America during the second half of the 20th century are gone, either automated out of existence or shipped offshore where wages are minimal and nobody cares if a company ruins the environment. Even when they are running, modern mills produce more lumber with 10% of the employees that they needed 30 years ago. All the high volume repetitive tasks have been automated. Even in the woods, one guy running a faller-buncher can do the work that it took a crew of 20 to do in the '70s.