Charting the decline of Oregon's timber industry

Published: Monday, January 23, 2012, 10:30 AM     Updated: Monday, January 23, 2012, 10:32 AM

By Jeff Mapes, The Oregonian  

 

Oregon Office of Economic Analysis 

The change in color in the lines on the report refers to a change in the statistical measures used to report on the industry.

 

The decline of Oregon's timber industry -- and the fading of its political clout -- is not a new story.  But a series of charts from the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis paint a vivid picture of how our economy has changed.

First, here's a chart showing employment in the wood-products industry.  As you can see, employment took a big dive during the deep recession of the early 1980s and again following new environmental restrictions on logging in federal forests in 1990.

Since then, employment has trended down, with a small upswing during the housing boom of the early years of this century.

Oregon Office of Economic Analysis

The second chart shows how the industry has become a much smaller part of Oregon's gross domestic product.  Bear in mind, some of this is not just because of the decline of the industry, but because other sectors -- such as high tech and services -- have grown.  Since at least the 1980s, the state has deliberately pursued economic diversification and that's helped reduce timber's impact on the state.

The office's blog has much more detail that's worth taking a look at.