A renewable harvest

Forests remain Oregon’s most abundant natural resource and a crucial part of the state’s economy. As the country’s economy and housing starts have declined, Oregon’s annual timber harvest has followed. Harvest levels from combined private and public forests now total about 3 billion board feet per year — which is only about 30 percent of the new growth being added to our forests each year. While harvest on state and private forestland has remained somewhat stable, harvest of federal forestland has declined by 90 percent over the last two decades due to government restrictions.