Forest Growth, Mortality and Harvest

Oregon forests grow about 2.8 billion cubic feet of new wood per year. Overall, about 39% is harvested, 25% ends up in trees that die from natural causes, and 36% adds to the volume of standing timber. On private forestland, where most timber harvest happens in the state, the amount of wood harvested each year is about 77% of the annual timber growth. About 11% of that growth is offset by trees that die from causes such as fire, insects and disease. On federal lands, only about 8% of the annual timber growth is harvested each year. The amount of timber that dies offsets annual growth by 36%. The remainder of the growth, a net change of 56%, adds to the volume of standing timber in those forests.