With conflicts abroad, logging at home needs prioritization

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With conflicts abroad, logging at home needs prioritization

Saturday, March 19, 2022 (0 Comments)
Posted by: The Register-Guard

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Forest products exist in a global marketplace. Many manufacturers in the U.S. import specialized products from other countries to produce their finished products. Russian-Baltic birch plywood is one of those products because it can be peeled into very thin veneer and layered thick with glue to add strength and stability into American-made cabinetry, flooring and more.

According to U.S. Census Bureau Trade Data, the U.S. imported around 400 MMBF of forest products from Russia in 2021 to meet this need, an increase of 104% over 2020 imports. Nearly 75% of this volume was hardwood plywood imports like Russian-Baltic birch.

Other American manufacturers simply import raw material to augment a limited domestic supply. Nearly 10% of imported volume from Russia came from softwood lumber. More broadly, U.S. and China import 50% of the world’s traded softwood lumber.

But, public lands in the U.S. have great potential to meet these needs. Oregon is the No. 1 supplier of softwood lumber in the nation and federal lands in the Pacific Northwest could be providing much more of this supply to the market.

According to the Oregon Forest Resources Institute, on federal lands in Oregon, “only about 8% of the annual timber growth is harvested each year.” The remaining growth is retained on our federal lands as either dead or living material.

Other products like the Russian-Baltic birch plywood will be harder to substitute with domestic species, but this market could be developed in the U.S.

According to the Federal Forest Resource Coalition, congressional leaders are drafting legislation to bar the importation of finished wood products from the Russian Federation, while requiring the Forest Service to make up the difference.

The good news is that federal lands can make up the difference. The domestic forest sector can help reduce the need to use wood from places that don’t share America’s environmental protections and commitment to sustainability.

A shift to domestic supply cannot happen overnight, but steps can be taken to increase sustainable timber harvest from U.S. forests. Prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. government passed billions of dollars in spending on a strategy to reduce wildfire risks in national forests. If executed effectively, the U.S. could be on its way to addressing wildfire mitigation and landscape resiliency, while reducing reliance on foreign forest products.

Americans have the option to consume locally. Producing regional fiber to meet the demands of today and the future limits the carbon footprint from overseas transportation and creates domestic jobs in a growing sector.

With innovations in tall wood buildings to new markets for biomass such as renewable energy, renewable diesel and biochar, America is vying to be at the forefront of climate solutions in the world.

When domestic wood supplies are fully appreciated for their opportunity in this global market to provide stability to the American economy, the nation will have healthier forests, less smoke in the air and new solutions leading to carbon neutrality.

Amanda Sullivan-Astor is the forest policy manager for the Associated Oregon Loggers and a monthly contributor to The Register-Guard. Nick Smith is the executive director for Healthy Forests Healthy Communities and the public affairs director for the American Forest Resource Council.

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With conflicts abroad, logging at home needs prioritization

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