Light burns brighter for state's timber industry, economy in 2010

The roller coaster ride of the national and Montana's economy continues at a frantic pace. The good news-bad news scenarios are in the headlines on a daily basis and it is really difficult to sort out the wheat from the chaff.

As I'm certain all are aware, the drop in the housing market nationwide is the major cause of the economic woes suffered by the timber industry. We were hit with the burst of the bubble before the rest of the basic industries started to feel the crunch.

But then, unfortunately for everyone, when new housing starts dropped by 30 percent it hit all industries supplying raw materials for the structural necessities of building.

This meant a drop in labor in everything from carpenters to landscapers thus pushing up the unemployment rate dramatically.

The 2009 figures for forestry employment sat at just over 7,000 working Montana families down about 20 percent from the revised 2008 estimate of 8,800.

During the same year, 2009, Montana's timber harvest volume was about 300 million board feet with the largest decline in private land harvest that fell more than 50 percent mostly due to low market prices.

So far, I have only handed you the bad news scenario and am grateful that those statistics are in the rearview mirror.

Moving into 2010, the light burns brighter with lumber mills emerging from the worst downturn in industry history and while the recovery will be slow, predictions are it will be steady. This is happening with Montana's forest products facilities by added shifts for the workers who have remained employed.

This is also very good news for those who depend upon the health of the timber industry for their livelihoods because there are three indirect jobs for every direct timber job.

It is critical for the economy and the health of millions of acres of forest land, both public and private, that the timber industry rebounds and continues its place in the scheme of Montana's basic industries along with mining, oil and gas, and agriculture.

By the hard work of the folks in the timber community, Montanans enjoy clean water, clean air, and safe wildlife habitat, qualities that are of great concern to all of us.

There are now around 4 million acres of beetle killed trees that in some manner will be handled.

It is not possible to harvest and replant that many acres of dead and dying trees. It should have been done several years ago when land managers were warning of the impending danger of insects and disease coming our way but until the visual to the public of the destruction became evident, little was done to prevent what has happened to our once green, healthy forests.

Prevention is always preferable to cure, but the mode we find ourselves in now is the attempt to clean up what we can of the wreckage before it gets even worse.

The fuel load on national forest land is almost beyond comprehension and the threat of catastrophic wildfire looms large on the landscape with the upcoming fire season.

There are a number of efforts moving forward to help the situation but time is not our friend and the projects are moving excruciatingly slow.

There are a number of ways to expedite action, and, fortunately for the timber resource, there are those taking a proactive approach to forest management.

The U.S. Forest Service is moving toward emergency removal of dead trees along roadways, under power lines, and in campgrounds where those trees risk the safety of the public.

The Montana DNRC is using timber sales and its JumpStart program to remove hazardous materials from state trust lands and for private landowners.

These are very welcome actions for both the resource and for the timber industry involved in the projects.

Looking forward down the economic road, we do see a slow, steady uptick in markets and demand moving onward into the future.

The most crucial ingredient as always for a timber industry recovery will be the availability of raw fiber from all land ownerships.

There was a slight move upward of material from national forest land in 2009 over 2008, but unfortunately more than 40 percent of the fiber offered was in residential firewood and non-saw logs for which there is less of a market due to the closure of Smurfit-Stone Container in Frenchtown.

The capacity of Montana's mill infrastructure four years ago was over 600 million board feet annually whereas capacity now is under 400 million board feet.

It is easy to see that if a turnaround back to healthy forests is going to happen, the existing facilities need to maintain and expand in order to address the growth and mortality occurring on Montana's forest lands.

Our folks who have weathered the storm stand ready to be part of the economic solution for all of Montana.

Simpson is with the Montana Wiid Products Association.