California Logging Continues To Fall

While harvesting of wood in California declined slightly in 2OO'7, the value of the harvested wood dropped by more than 10% from 2006, according to the California Forest Products Commission's annual state of the industry report.

About 1.625 billion bd. ft. of wood was harvested in California. down from 1.631 billion bd. ft. in 2006. However. the value of the harvested wood declined from $534 million in 2006 to $474 million in 2007.

"The decline in value outs further pressure on California businesses in the forest products industry," said Donn Zea, CFPC president.

A consequence of the strain on fbrestland owners is that more land is being converted to other uses, according to a 2003 Forest & Range Assessment Program report by the California Resources Agency.

The report found that limited public understanding ol' management uctivities, low profitability for timber and livestock operations, and increasing resulatorv costs lead to an acceleration of land use conversion.

"Ironically, the quandary faced by forestland owners comes at a time when the public benefit of fbrestland is more acknowledged than ever," Zea said. "Among the vital roles forests play is their ability to combat climate change by absorbing harmful carbon dioxide and other gases and harvested wood is the only renewable major building product."

Zea added that the amount of wood harvested continues to be near historic lows in California. Total harvested wood was the least since 200 l, the second-lowest harvest in the last 30 years, and 600/o less than what was harvested in 1990.

On privately owned land, California wood products companies harvested | .440 billion bd. ft., up from 1.431 billion bd. ft. in 2006, according to the California Board of Equalization.

On public land, 187 million bd. ft. was harvested. down slightly from 200 million bd. ft. in 2006 and just a fraction of the 1.3 billion bd. ft. harvested on public land, mostly federally owned. in 1990.

"Our federal forestlands remain overcrowded and at significant risk of catastrophic fire," Zea said. "While the industry has been able to partner with local and federal governments irr some areas to reduce fire risk through harvesting, unfortunately these are the exception."

One result of the lack of harvesting on our forestlands, he said, is that California continues to rely on huge amounts of imported wood to meet its needs. "California has abundant forests and the natural. renewable resources to help meet out wood product needs." Zea said.

Lumber Truck Hits Ambulance

A June l7 collision between a truck owned by Denver Lumber Co., Denver, Co., and an ambulance driving to an emergency caused minor injuries to two paramedics and an emergency medical technician.

According to police, the ambulance had its lights and sirens on when it tried to pass the lumber truck on the truck's left side. When the ambulance and truck came into contact. the ambulance slid onto its side.

Truck driver Karen Sherman said she never saw or heard the ambulance. "Can't do nothing but be shocked when you see something like that, and worry about if people got hurt," Sherman said.