810-Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, January 4,1986
Future is bright for forest products industry
BY BORIS WEINTRAUB
National Geographic
New* Service
WASHINGTON - And now for
some good news: There is one
basic industry in the United States
for which the long-term future is
bright.
That is the forest products in
dustry.
A recent study of wood use by the
congressional Office of Technology
Assessment concluded that,
contrary to long-time predictions
of scarcity, national timber sup
plies will be sufficient to meet
domestic demand in the
foreseeable future.
What’s more, the study found
that, given improvements in
harvesting technology and better
management of timberlands, the
forest products industry has major
opportunities to expand exports to
the point where the United States
would no longer be a net
of wood products.
And the study noted that this
could occur without significant
environmental damage and
without major increases in the
cutting of trees on public lands, by
concentrating on timber
production on private lands.
Lone Bright Spot
“If you look at the range of basic
industries in this country, if you
look at steel, automobiles, mining,
the wood-using industry is perhaps
the only one that has a bright
future,” says James W. Curlin,
who directed the OTA study.
The United States consumes
about a fourth of total world wood
production, far more than any
other nation. That wood goes into
the two basic sections of the in
dustry: solid wood, used primarily
for construction, furniture, and a
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host of smaller products from
signs to coffins; and pulp and
paper products.
But the United States is also the
world’s largest industrial source of
forest products. The OTA found
that American timber harvests
would increase over the next three
decades, and that better har
vesting and processing, such as
making use of defective wood now
left on the site, and better
management, such as fertilization
and thinning, would help increase
the timber supply.
In contrast, the other major
wood producing areas-Japan,
Canada, the Soviet Union, and
western Europe-face dwindling
supplies, difficulties in bringing
timber to market, and climates
that limit their ability to meet the
expected 50 percent increase in
world demand for forest products
by the year 2000.
The biggest problem facing the
American industry may be that it
owns only 14 percent of the nation’s
timberlands. About 28 percent is
publicly owned, including the 'B9
million acres in the national forest
system, some of which may be
commercially logged.
The remaining 58 percent is
privately owned outside the in
dustry and holds the highest
potential for increased production.
Much of that land is in small tracts
of 100 acres or less, and the typical
landowner bought it for reasons
other than timber production:
farming, recreation, or investment
potential.
This aspect of the report has
drawn fire from the National
Forest Products Association, an
industry federation, which is less
optimistic.
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“We recognize the opportunities,
but OTA doesn’t deal with the
realities,” says William J. Lange,
the NFPA’s manager of resource
planning. “These lands aren’t
managed as well, and the report
assumes a huge investment will be
made that isn’t being made.”
Educating small landowners
about the potential of their tim
berland could pay dividends,
however.
“We find that once they know
they can manage their land better,
harvest a few trees, and pay their
taxes or send their kid to college
with the income, they do pretty
well,” says Larry Tombaugh,
chairman of the forestry depart
ment at Michigan State University
and head of a panel of experts that
advised the OTA study team.
Tombaugh also is optimistic
about the environmental prospects
of increased production. With
environmental awareness and
careful management of forest
lands, he says, “We can have our
cake and eat it, too.”
Environmentalists aren’t so
sure. Peter C. Kirby, director of
forest management programs for
the Wilderness Society and a
member of the OTA panel, agrees
with the report’s emphasis on
private lands, but cautions that
private timber harvesters must
meet environmental concerns, as
do those who cut timber on public
lands.
Striking a Bargain
“Many companies enter into
cooperative relationships with
private landowners, and much will
depend on the environmental at
titudes of the people they contract
with,” he says. “I’m talking about
providing streamside buffers.
(Turn to Page B 12)
Frosty Fun
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4 Some lose their leaves in fall
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sweaters inside they save
6 The amount of water in six inches of moist fallen snow is the
same amount as in one inch of
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