Trump Administration Restoring Timber Industry In Oregon

Lumberjacks float lumber down the Columbia River in Oregon, 1910.

With its vast acres of forest lands, Oregon’s timber industry used to be the biggest industry in the state.^ Indeed, in 1938 Oregon became the nation’s leading producer of wood, a position it held for many decades until Democrats set about destroying it. The decline was due largely to the environmental lobby which forced decreased harvests from public lands. The number of timber harvested on federal lands were reduced by 90% from 1989 to 2011, NINETY PERCENT, while the harvest-levels remained constant in private land. The decline in the lumber sector caused high unemployment rates in the rural parts of Oregon and impoverished whole communities.

TIMBER HARVEST TO INCREASE

Since taking office, President Donald Trump has sought to change public land management in the United States through actions aimed at shrinking the federal government and reducing environmental regulations. In Oregon, the goals include boosting timber harvest and expediting geothermal projects.

On March 1st, President Trump issued an executive order titled “Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production,” directing agencies to increase domestic production and reduce regulatory barriers in the industry. “The United States has an abundance of timber resources that are more than adequate to meet our domestic timber production needs, but heavy-handed Federal policies have prevented full utilization of these resources and made us reliant on foreign producers,” it stated.

The order was a welcome change for timber producers who have been frustrated by high costs, low supply and being outcompeted by imported products. “There is no region in the world that has timber costs the way we do here in the Pacific Northwest,” said Tyler Freres, vice president of sales at Freres Engineered Wood. “Foreign producers have the opportunity to ship materials here cheaper than we can produce because our raw material costs are so high.”

Freres said restricting timber production in the United States only pushes it overseas, preventing the industry from benefiting Oregon’s rural communities and local economies. Wood, he said, is a more sustainable building material than concrete or steel, and sourcing it locally is the best way to know where it comes from.

“If people are concerned about illegal timber harvests in foreign countries, essentially the decimation of the rainforest ... the best thing you can do to mitigate that is to supply your wood here locally,” he said. Proponents of active forest management point to high levels of tree death on public lands, which heighten wildfire risks. Trees need to be harvested before they become fuel for wildfires.

Though Freres supports the changes, he said that increasing timber harvest by 25%, as outlined by Secretary Rollins at the USDA, is insufficient considering the reductions implemented during the Biden Regime and over the past few decades.

These changes may take a while to unfold. Freres said he hasn’t seen any changes on the supply side yet. “We are still bidding on a restricted supply of timber out there,” he said. “We hope that (will change) as time goes on ... but so far, there has not been any demonstrable change in the volume that’s been made available to us.”

^Beginning in 1971 loggers have been required to plant tree seedlings after an area is harvested; therefore, Oregon has many, many areas where trees are now ready for harvest.