How Do Forest Products Contribute To Oregon's Economy?

There was a time when forest products was Oregon's economic leader, but urban growth in the last couple decades has been accompanied by a thriving high-technology industry that has now surpassed forestry in terms of employment. During the last two decades employment in the wood products industry has declined by about one-third, from about 90,000 to about 61,000 in 1997. (High-tech jobs stood at about 70,000 in 1997). However, Oregon still leads the nation in timber production.

The wood products industry still accounts for about 27 percent of the jobs and income in Oregon's manufacturing sector, but according to forest economist John Beuter, even that figure underestimates its importance to Oregon's economy. Wood products is considered a "basic industry" because most forest product sales are outside Oregon. The income that wood products brings into Oregon spreads through local economies to businesses that provide goods and services to basic industry sectors, and those employees in turn support many service and retail jobs.

There is also an interesting geographical component to Oregon's economic base. The high-tech industry is growing quickly in the Willamette Valley's metropolitan areas, especially around Portland, but is a relatively small part of the economic base of the rest of the state, which remains dominated by wood products and agriculture. Wood products, for example, accounts for about five-percent of Portland's economic base, but for all of Oregon excluding Portland, it stands at about one-third of the economic base.

SOURCE: Oregon Forest Resources Institute, Forest Fact Book.