AOL’s Storm Cites ‘Common Threads’ In Oregon Mill Closures

Writing in the Associated Oregon Loggers (AOL) September Mainline publication about two more recent mill closures in the state, AOL Executive Vice President Rex Storm says he’s noted three common threads in the state’s now seven sawmill closures announced in 2024: “There are multiple factors impacting Oregon’s forest sector, but the three common threads that obstruct our industry are workforce challenges, rising tax and regulation, and public timber supply declines.” Storm added that the loss of rural timber mills is an emerging problem that includes not only the loss of work for Oregon logging contractors and reduced markets for private timber owners, but also fewer destinations for thinning material produced in forest health projects. Delays in federal forest projects increase wildfire risks as well, he said. The closures also add to negative socio-economic impacts in their affected areas and reduced tax base for local governments.

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2024 Logger Survey: Working Tough Ground

Jun 13, 2024 | News

Loggers across the U.S. responded to Timber Harvesting’s recent 2024 Logger Survey, which showed that contractors in all parts of the country are having a tough time grappling with rising costs and dropping demand in some areas. For example, for the first time ever across 20-plus years of logger surveys, the number of loggers who rate their company’s financial health “poor” (9%) to “very poor” (21%) outnumber those who say “good” (21%) to “very good” (7%)—30% to 28% overall in favor of the negatives.