Active Forest Management Needs Improved Rural Manufacturing Options

Timberland management requires the ability to convert timber into products—and without local sawmills and manufacturing facilities, even standing timber with high board-foot value can become a liability rather than an asset. Knauf points to the Missoula, Montana region as a cautionary example: the closure of pulp mills, particle board plants, and sawmills has left billions of dollars worth of timber with no viable market from the Canadian border to Bonners Ferry, Idaho. Across the nation, the loss of rural forest manufacturing over the past two years has eliminated three to four billion board feet of lumber production capacity, threatening housing affordability and leaving fire as the primary—and largely uncontrollable—forest management tool.