The United States has about 737 million acres of forest land, with approximately
two-thirds of the forest land used for the production of wood products. With a timberland
base of 490 million acres, the forest products industry harvested about 19 billion cubic
feet of softwood and hardwood timber in 1998 (Miller Freeman, 1998). The United States
is a world leader in producing lumber and wood products, and also a leader in the pulp
and paper industry, producing about 34 percent of the world's pulp and 29 percent of total
world output of paper and paperboard (Miller Freeman, 1998). The U.S. forest products
industry is a strong contributor to the nation's economy, producing 1.2 percent of the U.S.
GDP. The industry employed almost 1.3 million people in all regions of the country in
1997, and ranks among the top 10 manufacturing industries in 46 states (U.S. Department
of Commerce, 1997).
Yet, in recent decades, forest products industries have experienced challenges that
have had profound effects on regional employment and earnings. During the 1990s there
were significant structural changes in the Pacific Northwest timber industries. Previously,
the old-growth forests of the Northwest had served as the northern spotted owl‘s habitat.
Over time, these forests had also become primary sources of timber for forest based
industries. As a result of heavy logging, the old forests have dwindled and so has the
number of spotted owls. In June 1990, the northern spotted owl was declared a threatened
species, and the issue of habitat protection for the northern spotted owl came to the
forefront. Under the Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP) adopted in 1994, large areas of oldgrowth
forest were set aside to protect the spotted owl and other species. This policy
affected federal lands on the west side of the Cascades in Oregon and Washington, and in
portions of Northern California. Less logging in the Northwest region affected
communities that were dependent on the resource for economic stability (Dumont, 1996).
A recent retrospective study (Eichman et al, 2010) found employment reductions from
the NWFP of about 80,000 jobs over the period of 1994 to 2003.