Outsourcing timber costs thousands of jobs
A country that once exported mature timber from Oregon now wants chips from teenage trees
Read MoreTag: Roy Keene
Conversations on the forest, tax equity and accountability
efforts are being made to place a statewide initiative on the 2016 ballot to address timber tax equity and accountability
Read MoreO&C Jobs Act fails to protect public interests
Reducing raw log exports, establishing fair taxes and fostering value-added wood products is where our politicians should focus to democratically increase local timber supplies, revenue and jobs.
Read MoreControl log exports to manage local economies
Politicians, industrialists and environmentalists seeking to bolster timber revenues and jobs by increasing logging are ignoring the elephant in the room: log exports.
Read MorePrivatizing public lands is not the answer
Roy Keene, forest consultant and MGx contributor, spoke at a recent City Club luncheon in Eugene which aired on KLCC and you may listen to the entire program with guests Andy Stahl and Faye Stewart
Read MorePoor BLM logging practices cost counties timber revenues
The timber industry continues to pressure our management agencies to sell more timber in today’s soft market. It’s not because they’ve run out of their own trees. They push for more public logging because they make huge profits from the subsidy-laden manner in which our timber is sold.
Read MoreWhat is good for the Port may not be good for the rest of us
In the case of ships transporting whole logs there may be a significant cost to the economy in the form of lost mill worker jobs and lost tax revenue.
Read MoreThe Elkhorn Ranch Timber Sale… Did We Get A Fair Price?
A major weakness with State Forest timber sales is that they are routinely purchased by the same large corporations. Comparatively low award prices reflect a lack of competition which fosters collusion and price fixing. Scott Timber (Roseburg Forest Products) and Swanson, two of the largest public timber sale purchasers, were the only “qualified bidders” listed for Elkhorn. Scott bought the sale for $273.52 per MBF for the Doug-fir, the bid species, and Swanson was second at $272.88. How conveniently close!
Read MoreStop log exports and create more Oregon jobs
In spite of this enormous volume of potentially available timber and soft domestic lumber market, industry is collaborating with well-paid scientists and token environmental groups to lobby for increased federal logging under the guise of “restoring forests and jobs.” The reality is that global timber corporations are exploiting the forest and people of the Northwest like a Third World resource center.
Read MoreExcellent essay on jobs, log exports and forestry economics
The industry is speculating on your forest the way Wall Street speculated on housing derivatives. Why should we increase logging in the public forests at a loss? Selling more public assets into a radically depressed domestic market is throwing good money after bad. It makes no sense.
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