Excerpt from Hardwood Supply in the Pacific Northwest: A Policy Perspective Until recently the hardwood manufacturing industry and associated hardwood forest resources in the Pacific Northwest have played a relatively minor role in the timber economy of that region. With forests dominated by softwoods, the various hardwood species were generally underused, and the surplus of growth over harvest gave the region the high hardwood inventories present today. Due to this past surplus and to softwood timber supply problems in the region, interest has increased in the potential for new or expanded industries and in increased employment and income from value added manufacturing based on the hardwood resource. Interest has intensified with the adjustments occurring in Federal timber supply and the changes in public land management policies. This study is part of a larger program of related research and demonstration projects that explores the possibilities for encouraging hardwood for estry and hardwood industry in the rural areas of the region? About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Researchers involved with the Pacific Northwest (PNW) Research Station Sustainable Wood Production Initiative have outlined some of the barriers and opportunities for sustainable wood production in the region. Sustainable wood production is defined as the capacity of forests to produce wood, products, and services on a long-term basis and in the context of human activity and use. The collective findings of these papers suggest that in the future, the regions wood supply will primarily come from private land, and the barriers and opportunities related to sustainable wood production will have more to do with future markets, harvest potential, land use changes, and sustainable forestry options than with traditional sustained yield outputs. Private lands in the PNW should be able to sustain recent historical harvest levels over the next 50 years, but regional changes in sawmilling capacity and uncertain market conditions may affect wood production in the region. Public perceptions of forestry, land use changes, and alternative forestry options are also discussed. These papers present preliminary findings and proposals for future work designed to help us understand the key issues related to sustainable wood production.