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2001
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copy of Fact Sheet #01
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Over 20,000 owners in WA State manage forestland for commercial,
recreational and resource protection objectives.
As a manufacturing industry the forest sector ranks second
with 15% of the Gross Business Income, well behind transportation
(primarily aircraft) at 42% but above food products at 11%.
More than 51% of the total land in the state, or approximately
21 million acres, is in forestland.
As a result, the forest sector supports a very diverse
array of outputs compared to other sectors, including wood
and paper products, recreation, water protection, habitat
and wildlife. These outputs are renewable and sustainable.
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| Timberland ownership is roughly half public and half private.
Almost 20% of the timberlands have been placed in reserves with
most on public lands. Most other public lands are managed to
provide income for trust beneficiaries including schools, universities
and counties |
| Earlier studies suggested a sustainable annual harvest potential
for Washington State of 6.3 billion board feet but harvest levels
have fallen to about 4.3 billion in recent years as a result
of efforts to protect endangered species. In effect, some 45%
of all timberland acres are not available for harvest. They
have either been placed in reserves or restricted by regulations.
Eighty two percent of the harvest in 1999 was supplied by the
private sector, or 97% when including the trust lands managed
by the state. |
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1999 Timber Harvest
(thousand board feet)
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| Forest Industry |
1,864,325
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42.5%
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Nonindustrial Private
(includes Native Am.) |
1,715,395
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39.1%
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Private Large
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586,378
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13.4%
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Private Small
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795,113
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18.1%
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Native American
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333,904
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7.6%
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| Total Private |
3,579,720
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81.7%
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| State |
662,479
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15.1%
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| Other Non-Federal |
15,091
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0.3%
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| National Forest |
116,819
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2.7%
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| Other Federal |
8,670
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0.2%
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| Total Public |
803,059
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18.3%
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| All Ownership |
4,382,779
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100%
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The forest sector annually generates over $12 billion in
gross business income with lumber and wood products slightly
larger than paper and allied products.
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Total Gross Business
Income by Industry
(Million Dollars)
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1999 |
2000 |
% of Total |
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| Forestry |
$305
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$317
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| Manufacturing |
$86,231
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$84,043
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| Lumber and wood products |
$8,302
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$6,774
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8%
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| Paper and allied products |
$3,452
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$5,742
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7%
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| Other trans. equipment |
$40,672
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$34,979
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42%
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| Food and kindred products |
$8,914
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$8,845
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11%
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The lumber and paper sectors provided direct employment
for 48,905 workers in 1999 with over 2 billion in wages. About
11 direct industry jobs and many more indirect jobs are supported
by each 1 million board feet of harvest. These statistics
do not include many proprietors and transportation workers
associated with production.
| Direct Employment in 1999 |
Annual Wage |
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| Forestry |
2,374
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$61,902,951
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| Lumber & Wood Products |
33,133
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$1,251,950,933
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| Paper & Allied Products |
15,772
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$807,339,971
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| Total |
51,279
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$2,121,193,855
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The unemployment in timber dependent counties remained much
higher than in urban counties.
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International exports have historically been important but
have declined from 37% of revenue in 1995 to only 20% by 1998
as a consequence of the Asian crisis, currency rates and other
competitive pressures.
Using the most recent analysis of indirect impacts in order
to estimate the size of the economy with and without the Forest
Sector, reveals that this sector supports 195,730 jobs across
the state or 7.4% of total employment. Of these, 49% or 96,000
jobs are outside the metropolitan Puget Sound Region.
Forestry Industry
Impacts in Washington
(using Conway's 1992 study) |
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1999
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Without Forest Products
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Difference
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% Difference
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| Total Employment |
2,645,008
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2,449,278
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195,730
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7.4
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| Manufacturing |
359,049
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295,497
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63,552
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17.7
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Lumber and
Wood Products
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33,133
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0
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33,133
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100
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Pulp and Paper Products
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15,772
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0
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15,772
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100
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Other Manufacturing
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48,905
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47,780
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1,125
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2.3
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| Gross State Product (mil
$) |
209,958
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193,791
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16,167
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7.7
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| The income in timber dependent counties have fallen
behind the income in urban areas as a consequence of the
declining harvest related to endangered species regulations,
reduced competitiveness and the trend of income growth
in urban areas. |
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