While many people think of the Pacific Northwest as the main area of lumber production, the economic reality is that the industry’s center of gravity has shifted to the South, according to a recent article in Blue Mountain Eagle. According to the article, the NW’s thunder has been stolen by the South’s abundant timber supplies and looser environmental regulations, which have fueled a boom in new production facilities, resulting in the investment of billions of dollars here. The article looks at some additional factors such as planting of trees in marginal agricultural lands, which is less of an option in the PNW.
