Forestry and Wood Products 

Jump ahead to:
Industry Overview
Forestry and Wood Products by the Numbers
Industry Strengths and Challenges in Oregon
Industry Priorities and Initiatives
Businesses
Industry Associations
Education and Research Institutions
Non-Profit Organizations
State Government Agencies
Cluster Contact
 

Industry Overview

Oregon is the largest lumber producer in the U.S. Oregon has 30.5 million acres of forestlands—about 46 percent of the total landmass of the state. An internationally-recognized leader in forest product manufacturing, Oregon combines accessible raw materials with cutting-edge innovation to produce a diverse range of high quality, value-added wood products that are exported to every corner of the globe.  

Advanced technology in the wood products industry has streamlined the processing of Oregon timber, making the industry more competitive and less labor intensive. Innovation has created new economic opportunities for Oregon companies like the Murphy Company, which went from producing traditional plywood to value-added engineered wood products, such as laminated veneer beams that can compete with steel in the global marketplace.

Wood Products

From dimensional lumber to ready-to-install windows and doors, Oregon’s value-added wood products are world-renowned. Oregon companies export wood products to meet market needs across the globe. American softwood exports to Mexico increased by 15 percent in 2007, and exports to Japan increased 87 percent. The quality of raw material and production expertise found in Oregon are second to none, making Oregon the ideal place to do business in secondary wood product manufacturing.

Forestry

Oregon’s economy has been shaped by the evolution of its long-standing forestry industry; an industry which now includes biomass generation, sustainability practices, manufactured housing and many secondary wood products manufacturers. Privately owned forestlands are Oregon’s primary providers of timber, accounting for nearly 85 percent of the statewide timber harvest annually. Today, the forest sector is lean, resilient and competitive. The industry has a modern transportation and utility infrastructure and strong market connections. It produces high-quality wood products in efficient high-tech, low-waste mills from timber grown primarily on private forestlands. And it meets tough federal and state air emission standards and other environmental laws. 
 

 Forestry and Wood Products by the Numbers

Sector	Economic Impact
Wood Products	Wood Products Firms:  1, 238 (2009) Jobs:  34,744 (2009) Average Salary:  $44, 755 (2009)
Forestry	Forestry Firms:  1, 046 (2009) Jobs:  12, 978 (2009) Average Salary:  $41,802 (2009)

Source:  Forestry and Wood Products – Oregon Covered Employment - Oregon Employment Department, 2009

For more information on the economic impacts of the Oregon forestry industry, download Oregon Forest Facts and Figures 2011.

Industry Strengths and Challenges in Oregon

Oregon has a unique advantage as the largest softwood lumber producer in the country, and also boasts the most prestigious forestry school in the world, in Oregon State University. Productivity and replacement levels are healthy in the cluster as well, as Oregon has a substantial supply of wood from forests with growth rates that exceed removals plus mortality by nearly 2:1.  In general, the forestry and wood products cluster is well-positioned for continued growth and improved efficiency and sustainability.

However, there are several obstacles that have emerged that could hinder growth as well. Rising energy costs are making it more expensive to harvest wood and manufacture wood products, and rising transportation costs and declining transport infrastructure are making it more expensive and more difficult to export products. Short-line rail infrastructure in the state is declining considerably. Much of Oregon's forestland is also increasingly valued for its non-forest uses, and the purchase or public designation of these lands keeps them inaccessible to the forestry industry. 

Industry Priorities and Initiatives

Private and public sector leaders have worked together to develop a forest industry cluster economic development strategy with the goal of creating and maintaining a favorable investment climate for environmentally sensitive, socially responsible, and globally competitive forest-based businesses throughout Oregon. As a result, these businesses will generate high quality, value-added products; family wage, highly skilled employment; increased revenues to private landowners for providing public benefits, and increased forest products exports.
 

Federal Forest Restoration Initiative:

• Widely communicate Oregon forest health and forest cluster and rural community economic vitality as priorities of the Governor and the State of Oregon.
• Encourage and support local collaboration efforts, such as community wildfire protection plans and fully using Healthy Forest Restoration Act authority, to accomplish federal forest restoration work and provide wood fiber to local mills.
• Explore a role for the State of Oregon to directly participate in addressing federal forest/private forest interface issues with respect to fires, insects, and diseases.

Forest Cluster Vitality Initiative:

• Promote development of market opportunities and removal of market barriers for wood products, non-timber forest products and ecosystems services.
• Promote increased funding for integrated research programs that directly benefit the forest cluster through improved management systems, technologies, and higher value wood products. 
• Promote state and federal laws and policies which provide economic incentives for biomass energy research and industry development.
• Promote ways to improve Oregon’s forest sector innovation system to increase competitiveness and synergies among the forest sector, higher education and other Oregon business sectors.
• Strengthen relationship between Oregon’s forest cluster and green building cluster.
• Ensure the Governor’s Investing in Infrastructure and Communities Initiative meets the transportation and energy needs of the forest cluster.

Forestry Workforce Initiative:

• Establish employer-led training consortia by county or workforce region.
• Expand forest cluster employers outreach programs to teachers, school counselors, students and parents that promote career opportunities in the cluster and develop appropriate forestry education programs and specific skill training for students who want to pursue university/community college education or enter the workforce directly from high school.

Establish a Career Pathways in Wood Products programs to link high school students and adults with careers in the cluster based on the Oregon Forest Resources Institute’s Careers In Forestry Program model
 

Who Is Involved?

Businesses

The Wood Innovation Center at Oregon State University maintains a direcory of private companies in the forestry and wood products industry.  This directory can be found at http://www.orforestdirectory.com.

Industry Associations

Association of Oregon Loggers.  AOL is a trade association, founded in 1969, to provide business services to contract logging firms and related businesses. AOL is the largest loggers association (in members) in the USA.
www.oregonloggers.org

Oregon Forest Industries Council - OFIC is a trade association representing more than 50 Oregon forestland owners and forest products manufacturing-related firms. Its members own more than 90% of Oregon's private large-owner forestland base.
www.ofic.com

Oregon Small Wodlands Association.  The Oregon Small Woodlands Association was founded in 1960 as an organization that represents family forestland owners. OSWA has 20 active chapters statewide, representing 26 counties. The chapters organize local activities and produce information tailored to local needs.
www.oswa.org

Education and Research Institutions

Institute for Natural Resources - INR is a cooperative enterprise bringing the scientific knowledge and expertise of the Oregon University System and other Oregon higher education institutions to bear on resource management. INR works to provide Oregon leaders with ready access to current, science-based information and methods for better understanding our resource management challenges and developing solutions.
www.inr.oregonstate.edu

College of Forestry - Oregon State University's College of Forestry (CoF) has been educating professionals for a century. They have earned a reputation as a world-class center of teaching and learning about forests and related resources. CoF offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in four departments; Forest Engineering, Resources & Management, Forest Ecosystems & Society, and Wood Science and Engineering.
www.cof.orst.edu

Oregon Wood Innovation Center - Oregon State University’s College of Forestry and Extension Service have teamed up to create the Oregon Wood Innovation Center. OWIC’s mission is to improve the competitiveness of Oregon’s wood products industry by fostering innovation in products, processes, and business systems. A key function of the Center is to serve as the primary link between university research and needs and opportunities in the forest industry.
http://owic.oregonstate.edu/

The Oregon Built Environment & SustainableTechnologies Center.  Oregon BEST is an independent non-profit that connects the state's businesses with its shared network of university labs to transform green building and renewable energy research into on-the-ground products, services, and jobs that power Oregon's green economy.
http://oregonbest.org/

Nonprofit Organizations

Sustainable Northwest - Sustainable Northwest brings people, ideas, and innovation together so that nature, local economies, and rural communities can thrive. Headquartered in Portland, Oregon, Sustainable Northwest works in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Northern California. Through collaboration, they bridge rural and urban interests, encourage entrepreneurship, and build trust in sustainable natural resource management and utilization.
www.sustainablenorthwest.org/

Defenders of Wildlife - Founded in 1947, Defenders of Wildlife is one of the country's leaders in science-based, results oriented wildlife conservation. They stand out in their commitment to saving imperiled wildlife and championing the Endangered Species Act, the landmark law that protects them. Although national in scope, Defenders has a strong Oregon presence with a northwest regional office in West Linn.
www.defenders.org/

The Nature Conservancy - The Nature Conservancy works around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. The mission of TNC is to preserve the plants, animals and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. Although international in scope, TNC has a strong Oregon presence with a state office, a network of field offices and several preserves. 
www.nature.org/oregon/

State Government Agencies

Oregon Forest Resources Institute (OFRI) - The Legislature created the Oregon Forest Resources Institute in 1991 to improve public understanding of the state’s forest resources and to encourage environmentally sound forest management through training and other educational programs for forest landowners. OFRI is funded by a dedicated harvest tax on forest products producers. www.oregonforests.org

OBDD – The Oregon Business Development Department, aka “Business Oregon” offers a variety of programs and services to assist businesses coming to Oregon for the first time, as well as those that are already well-established in the state. Business Oregon focuses on five key industries: Advanced Manufacturing, Clean Technology, Forestry & Wood Products, High Technology, and Outdoor Gear & Apparel.
www.oregon4biz.com/

ODF - The Oregon Department of Forestry was established in 1911. It is under the direction of the State Forester who is appointed by the State Board of Forestry. The statutes direct the state forester to act on all matters pertaining to forestry, including collecting and sharing information about the conditions of Oregon's forests, protecting forestlands and conserving forest resources. Specific activities include: fire protection, regulation of forest practices, promotion of forest stewardship, management of state-owned forestlands, and forestry assistance to non-industrial private woodland owners.
www.oregon.gov/ODF/index.shtml

ODFW - The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is responsible for protecting and enhancing all fish and wildlife. The agency has a wide range of responsibilities from operating hatcheries to selling hunting and angling licenses to advising on habitat protection for Oregon's diverse wildlife populations. ODFW works closely with other agencies, volunteers, property owners, hunters and anglers to balance protection of fish and wildlife with the economic, social and recreational needs of Oregonians.
www.dfw.state.or.us/

ODoE - The Oregon Department of Energy was created in 1975. The department protects Oregon's environment by saving energy, developing clean energy resources and cleaning up nuclear waste. To encourage investments in energy efficiency and conservation, the office offers loans, tax credits, information, and technical expertise to households, businesses, schools and governments. The office aims to ensure that Oregon's mix of energy resources minimizes harm to the environment and reliably meets the office formulates energy policies, advances the development of renewable energy resources, and evaluates whether proposed energy facilities are economically and environmentally sound.
www.oregon.gov/ENERGY/index.shtml
 

Cluster Contact 

Mike Cloughesy
Director of Forestry
Oregon Forest Resources Insitute