United States Department of Agriculture

Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station Resource Bulletin RMRS-RB-19 November 2014

Idaho’s Forest Products Industry and 

Timber Harvest 2011 with Trends 

Through 2013

Eric A. Simmons, Steven W. Hayes, Todd A. Morgan, 

Charles E. Keegan, III, and Chris Witt
Simmons, Eric A.; Hayes, Steven W.; Morgan, Todd A.; Keegan, Charles E., III; Witt, Chris. 2014. Idaho’s forest products 

industry and timber harvest 2011 with trends through 2013. Resour. Bull. RMRS-RB-19. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 46 p.

Abstract

This report traces the flow of Idaho’s 2011 timber harvest through the primary industries; provides a description of the 

structure, capacity, and condition of Idaho’s industry; and quantifies volumes and uses of wood fiber. Historical wood products industry trends are discussed, as well as changes in harvest, production, employment, and sales.

Keywords: forest economics, mill residue, timber processors, wood utilization

Authors

Eric A. Simmons is a Research Associate, Steven W. Hayes is a Research Forester, Todd A. Morgan is 

the Director of Forest Industry Research, and Charles E. Keegan, III, is Director Emeritus Forest Industry 

Research at the Bureau of Business and Economic Research, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana.

Chris Witt is an Ecologist, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research 

Station, Forest Inventory and Analysis Program, Boise, Idaho.

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Highlights

•	 A total of 88 Primary wood facilities were identified as active in Idaho during 2011:

•	 27 Sawmills

•	 2 Plywood / veneer plants

•	 16 Log home facilities

•	 18 Residue related products facilities

•	 8 Cedar product manufacturers

•	 17 Post, pole, and log furniture producers

•	 Idaho’s total timber harvest in 2011 was 1.07 billion board feet Scribner,

more than 40 percent higher than the 2009 record low harvest, and approximately 5 percent lower than the pre-recession timber harvest volumes of

2006 and 2007.

•	 Timber harvest from non-industrial private timberlands fell from 31 percent

of the total harvest in 2006 to just 12 percent in 2011. Public lands contributed 42 percent of the harvest in 2011 compared to 26 percent in 2006. State

lands accounted for more than 30 percent of the 2011 harvest and National

Forests accounted for almost 10 percent.

•	 Saw and veneer logs comprised over 88 percent of the total harvest. Clearwater, Benewah, Shoshone, and Latah counties were the largest contributors to the state’s total harvest in 2011, accounting for 60 percent of total

harvest volume.

•	 Idaho sawmills recovered an average of 1.67 board feet lumber tally per

board foot Scribner of input, representing the first decline in sawmill overrun in 40 years. Idaho’s 27 active sawmills produced 1.4 billion board feet

of lumber during 2011.

•	 Idaho sawmills with a production capacity of over 50 Million Board Feet

Lumber Tally (MMBF) annually accounted for 86 percent of Idaho’s lumber production in 2011 compared to 94 percent in 2006 and just 39 percent

in 1995.

•	 Idaho’s primary forest products industry shipped products valued at $1.4

billion (fob the producing mill) in 2011. Lumber and plywood/veneer contributed 36 percent of total sales while residue related products such as pulp

and paper, particleboard, and other products represented 56 percent.

•	 Sawmills, along with plywood and veneer facilities, generated over 1.14

million bone-dry units (bdu) of wood residue during 2011 of which more

than 99 percent was utilized.

•	 Idaho’s log home industry was severely impacted by the Great Recession

and U.S. housing bust of 2007-2009, and slow economic recovery since

then. Log home sales during 2011 were down about 80 percent from 2006

levels, and timber use by Idaho’s log home sector was down nearly 90 percent.

i
Contents

Highlights...................................................................................................................... i

Introduction .................................................................................................................. 1

Forest Industries Data Collection System .................................................................... 1

The Operating Environment of Idaho’s Forest Products Industry................................ 2

Idaho’s 2011 Timber Harvest, Products, and Flow.......................................................... 3

Harvest Trends 1947 through 2013 ............................................................................. 4

Harvest by Geographic Source..................................................................................... 5

Harvest by Ownership and Product Type..................................................................... 8

Harvest by Species....................................................................................................... 10

Species Composition of Product Types........................................................................ 11

Movement of Timber Products.................................................................................... 12

End Uses of Idaho’s Timber ......................................................................................... 15

Structure of Idaho’s Forest Products Industry ................................................................ 17

Structure and Location ................................................................................................ 17

Sales Value of Primary Wood Products........................................................................ 20

Timber Received by Idaho Mills................................................................................... 21

Sawmill and Plywood/Veneer Sector........................................................................... 23

Residue-Related Products Sector................................................................................. 28

Other Primary Manufacturers ..................................................................................... 28

Plant Capacity ............................................................................................................... 30

Sawtimber Capacity and Utilization by Sector............................................................. 31

Markets for Primary Wood Products.............................................................................. 33

Market Areas by Finished Product Type ...................................................................... 36

Mill Residue: Types, Quality, and Use ............................................................................ 36

Sawmill and Veneer/Plywood Residue ........................................................................ 37

Residues from Other Manufacturers........................................................................... 40

The Forest Products Industry and the Idaho Economy.................................................... 40

Trends in Forest Products Employment and Workers Earnings................................... 41

Idaho’s Forest Industry Outlook 2014 ............................................................................ 44

References .................................................................................................................... 45

ii
USDA Forest Service Resour. Bull. RMRS-RB-19. 2014 1

Introduction

The purpose of this report is to describe the utilization of Idaho’s 2011 timber

harvest and the conditions, structure, and operations of the state’s primary forest

products industry. Primary forest products manufacturers are firms that process

timber into manufactured products such as lumber, and facilities, such as pulp and

paper mills and particleboard plants, that use the wood fiber residue directly from

timber processors. This report also describes recent and historical trends in the

state’s timber use including raw material sources, inventory, growth, and harvest.

Other areas covered in the report include the extent and efficiency of Idaho’s processing infrastructure and the volume and value of finished products and residues.

Information in this report is primarily generated through a statewide periodic

census of Idaho’s manufacturers of primary forest products. The mill census also

includes firms in adjacent states utilizing raw material from Idaho during the 2011

calendar year. Although great effort is made to collect data from every primary

facility that operated during a census year, facilities may be added in subsequent

surveys. Wherever appropriate, data from previous reports have been updated to

make comparisons with new results.

This census is conducted in cooperation with the University of Montana’s

Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BBER) and the USDAForest Service,

Interior West Forest Inventory and Analysis (IW-FIA) program.

The 2011 report focuses primarily on changes since the 2006 mill census with

updated information through 2013 where available. Important relationships of current data to findings prior to 2006 have been noted. For a more detailed discussion

of historic trends in timber harvesting and processing for Idaho see “Idaho’s Forest

Products Industry and Timber Harvest, 2006” (Brandt and others 2012).

Forest Industries Data Collection System

The Forest Industries Data Collection System (FIDACS) was developed by the

BBER in cooperation with the FIA programs in the Rocky Mountain and Pacific

Northwest research stations to collect, compile, and report data from primary forest products manufacturers.

Primary forest products firms were identified through the use of various phone

directories, industry associations, internet searches, and through previous censuses. The written questionnaires were distributed by mail, fax, or email and were

administered over the telephone when necessary. A single questionnaire was completed for each processing facility and includes the following information:

•	 Plant production, capacity, and employment

•	 Volume of raw material received by County, ownership, and product type

•	 Species mix and proportion of standing dead timber received

•	 Finished product volumes, types, sales value, and market locations

•	 Utilization and marketing of manufacturing residue
2 USDA Forest Service Resour. Bull. RMRS-RB-19. 2014

Similar forest products industry censuses have been conducted periodically

in the Pacific Coast and Rocky Mountain States for over 30 years by the BBER

and Forest Service research stations. Previous FIDACS censuses were completed

for Idaho in 1979, 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995, 2001, and 2006 (Godfrey and others

1980; Keegan and others 1982, 1988, 1992, and 1997; Morgan and others 2004;

Brandt and others 2012). Information collected through FIDACS is stored at the

University of Montana’s BBER. Additional information is available by request;

however, individual firm-level data are confidential and will not be released.

The Operating Environment of Idaho’s Forest Products Industry

The last application of the FIDACS in Idaho detailed industry operations during 2006, which marked the end of several years of very high housing starts and

record consumption of wood products in the United States (Woodall and others

2012). High housing and wood products demand were fueled not just by a strong

economy, but by easy credit and rampant speculation in housing markets, which

led to a frantic building pace in 2004 and 2005. With growing recognition of a

housing bubble, housing markets began to decline, the inventory of unsold homes

grew, new home construction slowed, and house prices began a downward spiral, ultimately resulting in the most difficult economic conditions since the Great

Depression of the 1930s.

The collapse in home prices in the United States, and ultimately throughout

the world, created a cataclysm in the subprime mortgage market and exposed the

weakness of debt instruments backed by these mortgages. The loss in confidence

in the debt instruments collateralized by mortgages bankrupted a number of major

investment banks and was the catalyst for a global financial crisis in the last half

of 2008. While a total breakdown of the global financial system was averted, the

impacts on housing markets in the United States and many other countries were

devastating.

Annual U.S. housing starts fell from almost 2.1 million units in 2005 to

554,000 units during 2009, their lowest level in more than six decades (fig. 1).

Associated with the housing collapse was an official recession—often termed the

“Great Recession”—that officially lasted from December of 2007 to June of 2009

(NBER 2010), but the impacts on home construction and demand for lumber and

other wood products continued into 2010 and beyond. The challenging economic

conditions experienced by the forest products industry in 2009 improved only

slightly during 2010 and 2011. Housing starts in the United States grew by less

than 6 percent during 2010 and 2011, and remained among the lowest levels since

annual housing starts began being reported in the 1950s. Lumber consumption in

the United States remained at historically low levels.

Through much of 2012, the economy grew slowly with lackluster recovery in

housing and demand for wood products. Wood product markets in late 2012 and

2013 reflected the potential upside but also the uncertainty and volatility of recovering markets. As housing starts increased more than expected in the fourth quarter

of 2012 and first quarter of 2013, lumber prices responded, reaching a high of over

$435 per MBF lumber tally in March and April 2013, the highest since 2006 and an

increase of about $100 per MBF from the second quarter 2012 (Random Lengths
USDA Forest Service Resour. Bull. RMRS-RB-19. 2014 3

1976-2013). Mills throughout North America geared up and increased production

by bringing recession-idled capacity back into operation. The additional supply

of lumber and a mid-year cooling of the U.S. housing market drove lumber prices

down, hitting a 2013 low of $330 per MBF in June.

Lumber prices climbed steadily during late summer and fall 2013, approaching

$400 per MBF in the fourth quarter of 2013. Domestic demand for wood products

through new construction, as well as repairs and remodeling continued upward

and international markets were somewhat stronger than expected. Wood products

markets in 2014 are expected to continue to improve, but with uncertainty in the

domestic and international markets and considerable unutilized capacity to produce lumber in North America, wood products prices are expected to increase but

remain volatile.

Idaho’s 2011 Timber Harvest, Products, and Flow

Idaho Timberlands—About 40 percent of the total land area in Idaho is

forestland. Just over 3 million acres of Idaho forestland are reserved through

statute or administrative designation such as National Forest Wilderness areas

and National Parks and Monuments, and not available for timber production. In

2011, Idaho had slightly less than 17 million acres of nonreserved timberlands

available for timber production (USFS2011). The USDA Forest Service’s National

Forest System (NFS) is responsible for the administration of 72.8 percent of

the state’s timberlands (table 1). The remaining timberlands are divided among

nonindustrial private owners, including tribal (9.0 percent), industrial private lands

(7.7 percent), state endowment lands managed by the Idaho Department of Lands

(IDL) (6.7 percent), Federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) (3.7 percent),

and other public ownership (0.2 percent).

Figure 1—United 

States housing 

starts 1980-2013 

(source: U.S. 

Census Bureau 

2013).
4 USDA Forest Service Resour. Bull. RMRS-RB-19. 2014

Ownership of industrial private timberlands in Idaho has undergone major

changes in the last 10 years. Nationwide, many large forest products companies

that once sought a high level of vertical integration to reduce operating costs have

converted their corporate structures to real estate investment trusts (REITs) or sold

their timberlands to timberland investment management organizations (TIMOs).

One result is that the FIA program no longer uses the traditional industrial/nonindustrial private ownership classifications, replacing them with corporate/noncorporate classifications. Together, REITs and TIMOs now control over 1 million

acres of land in Idaho. In addition to managing forests for the sale of timber, REITs

and TIMOs evaluate land parcels for their highest and best uses, including real

estate potential on the open market. Some REITs and TIMOs generate revenue

through the sale of conservation easements and recreation permits to allow access

to timberlands.

Harvest Trends 1947 through 2013

The USDA Forest Service has kept comprehensive annual harvest data by ownership in Idaho since 1969. Other sources of information were used to develop

harvest numbers for 1947 through 1969 (fig. 2). Idaho’s timber harvest climbed

after World War II, peaking in1976 at 1.9 billion board feet. During the recession

years of the early 1980s, harvest fell sharply, but rebounded in the last half of the

1980s to an average level of 1.6 billion board feet.

Throughout the 1990s and into the 2000s, Idaho’s total timber harvest declined

steadily because of a dramatic decline in harvest from National Forest lands. In

2001, the National Forest harvest for Idaho was the lowest to date since World

War II and had declined by 629 MMBF (89 percent) from 1990. In 1998, the

harvest volume from other public lands in Idaho surpassed the volume harvested

from Idaho’s National Forests for the first time on record. The volume of timber harvested from Idaho’s private timberlands remained stable throughout the

1990s and into the new century; however, the proportion of the harvest coming

from private lands increased steadily from 45 percent (732 MMBF) in 1990 to

72 percent (750 MMBF) in 2001 and 74 percent (834 MMBF) in 2006. Harvest

from IDL and other public forest lands has followed a similar trend, with harvest

volumes remaining fairly stable, but the proportion of the total harvest increasing

from 14 percent (259 MMBF) in 1990 to nearly 20 percent (208 MMBF) by 2006.

Ownership class

National Forest 12,210,340 72.8

Undifferentiated private 2,796,786 16.7

State 1,116,072 6.7

Bureau of Land Management 616,546 3.7

Other public 31,915 0.2

All owners 16,771,659 100 1

1 Total does not not sum to 100 due to rounding

Table 1--Idaho timberland by ownership class. (Source: 

FIA, FIDO online tool)

 Acres

Percentage of 

Non-reserved

timberland
USDA Forest Service Resour. Bull. RMRS-RB-19. 2014 5

The Great Recession and dramatic declines in U.S. housing starts drove private

lands timber harvest down steeply in 2008 and 2009. The 2009 total timber harvest

in Idaho was less than 750 MMBF, the lowest since the end of World War II. By

2011, statewide timber harvest had recovered to the pre-recession level of just over

1 billion board feet, aided significantly by the increased sustained yield calculation

and harvesting program on the State of Idaho’s endowment timberlands. Idaho

timber harvests for 2012 and 2013 were similar to the nearly 1.1 billion board feet

harvested in 2011.

Harvest by Geographic Source

From 1979 to 1990, between 76 and 78 percent of Idaho’s total timber harvest

came from north of the Salmon River (table 2). Forests north of the Salmon River

now provide nearly 90 percent of Idaho’s timber harvest. Southern Idaho’s harvest

volumes have dropped dramatically from 440 MMBF in 1979 to 113 MMBF in

2011.

Clearwater County continued to lead the state in timber harvest with 222 MMBF

in 2011—about 21 percent of Idaho’s harvest. Other leading timber-producing

counties were Benewah with 156 MMBF, Shoshone with 137 MMBF, Latah

with 130 MMBF, Bonner with 98 MMBF, Idaho with 88 MMBF, and Kootenai

with 70 MMBF. Together, these seven counties in northern Idaho supplied almost

85 percent of Idaho’s 2011 timber harvest. Valley County had the largest harvest

Figure 2—Idaho’s timber harvest by ownership, 1947 through 2013 (sources: Bureau of Business and Economic Research, 

The University of Montana-Missoula; USDA Forest Service Region One, Missoula, Montana).
6 USDA Forest Service Resour. Bull. RMRS-RB-19. 2014

in southern Idaho at 47 MMBF, which was 4.4 percent of the state’s total harvest.

Valley, Adams, and Boise counties contributed a combined 9.2 percent of the 2011

total state’s harvest.

Harvest volumes in 2011 for both northern and southern Idaho were lower than

2006 but higher than in 2001. Since 1979, the harvest has declined by 456 MMBF

(32 percent) in northern Idaho and 328 MMBF (75 percent) in southern Idaho.

Compared to 2006, the 2011 harvest was down 2 percent (23 MMBF) in northern

Idaho and 23 percent (32 MMBF) in southern Idaho.

Northern Idaho’s most dramatic county-level changes from 1979 to 2011 occurred in Clearwater and Idaho counties where the combined harvest dropped

by 495 MMBF (67 percent), 370 MMBF in Clearwater County and 125 MMBF

in Idaho County. From 1979 to 1990, the harvest in Clearwater County fell by

182 MMBF (56 percent) from private lands and 89 MMBF (66 percent) drop in the

National Forest harvest. Since 1990, Clearwater County’s harvest has declined by

84 percent on National Forest lands, by 48 percent on state lands, and by 4 percent

on industrial lands. In Idaho County, the harvest from National Forest lands fell

90 percent since 1990 and declined by 30 percent from other ownerships during

that time.

Southern Idaho’s most dramatic harvest decreases occurred in the southwestern counties of Adams, Boise, and Valley, where timber harvest has decreased by

146 MMBF (33 percent) since 1990 (table 2). Virtually all of the decrease can be

attributed to sharply declining harvest levels from National Forest lands, which

declined by approximately 87 percent since 1990. The harvest from other ownerships has remained essentially unchanged over the same period.
USDA Forest Service Resour. Bull. RMRS-RB-19. 2014 

7

County

MMBF

Scribner

Percent

of Total

MMBF

Scribner

Percent

of Total

MMBF

Scribner

Percent

of Total

MMBF

Scribner

Percent

of Total

MMBF

Scribner

Percent

of Total

MMBF

Scribner

Percent

of Total

MMBF

Scribner

Percent

of Total

Clearwater 544 29.4 335 21.0 267 15.8 234 17.1 182 18.1 174 15.6 221 20.7Benewah 100 5.4 94 5.9 152 9.0 117 8.5 129 12.8 144 12.9 156 14.6

Shoshone 206 11.1 217 13.6 183 10.8 194 14.2 172 17.1 200 17.8 137 12.9

Latah 57 3.1 89 5.6 84 5.0 96 7.0 70 7.0 125 11.2 130 12.2

Bonner 142 7.7 175 11.0 197 11.6 139 10.1 124 12.3 93 8.3 98 9.2

Idaho 190 10.3 156 9.8 174 10.3 113 8.2 65 6.5 65 5.8 88 8.2

Kootenai 65 3.5 80 5.0 152 9.0 114 8.3 81 8.0 100 8.9 70 6.6

Boundary 94 5.1 80 5.0 86 5.1 69 5.0 57 5.7 53 4.8 39 3.6

Nez Perce 8 0.4 12 0.8 17 1.0 8 0.6 4 0.4 10 0.9 8 0.8

Lewis 4 0.2 13 0.8 20 1.2 17 1.2 14 1.4 12 1.1 6 0.6

Northern Idaho 1,410 76.2 1,254 78.7 1,332 78.7 1,100 80.3 899 89.3 976 87.1 953 89.4

Valley 107 5.8 88 5.5 52 3.1 67 4.9 39 3.9 65 5.8 48 4.5

Boise 84 4.5 67 4.2 127 7.5 93 6.8 20 2.0 25 2.2 28 2.6

Adams 52 2.8 66 4.1 87 5.1 28 2.0 25 2.5 30 2.7 24 2.2

Washington 4 b 9 0.6 4 b 6 b - b cb 5 0.5

Elmore 25 1.4 14 0.9 5 b 38 2.8 7 0.7 cb cb

Other Counties 20 1.1 3 b 6 b 11 0.8 1 b 6 0.5 c bSouthwestern Idaho 292 15.8 247 15.5 281 16.6 242 17.7 91 9.0 126 11.3 104 9.8

Fremont 76 4.1 43 2.7 20 1.2 2 b 3 b 1 0.1 3 0.3

Lemhi 34 1.8 11 0.7 16 0.9 6 b 1 b 1 0.1 c b

Clark 10 0.5 10 0.6 16 0.9 - b 1 b 6 0.6 3 0.3

Caribou 4 b 10 0.6 3 b 5 b 5 b 4 0.3 c b

Other Counties 24 1.3 19 1.2 24 1.4 15 1.1 7 0.7 7 0.6 3 0.3

Southeastern Idaho 148 8.0 93 5.8 79 4.7 27 2.0 17 1.7 19 1.7 9 0.8

Southern Idaho 440 23.8 340 21.3 360 21.3 269 19.7 108 10.7 145 12.9 113 10.6

Idaho Total 1,850 100.0 1,594 100.0 1,692 100.0 1,370 100.0 1,007 100.0 1,121 100.0 1,066 100.0

aPercentage detail may not sum to 100% due to rounding.

bLess than 0.05 percent.cLess than 1 MMBF.

Northern Idaho

Southern Idaho

2011

Table 2--Idaho timber harvest (MMBF, Scribner) by county, selected years (sources: Keegan and others 1982, 1988, 1992, 1997; Morgan and others 2004; Brandt and others 2012).

1979 1985 1990 1995 2001 2006
8 USDA Forest Service Resour. Bull. RMRS-RB-19. 2014

Harvest by Ownership and Product Type

Total harvest in Idaho in 2011 was 1,066 million board feet (MMBF) Scribner

log scale, a decrease of approximately 5 percent (54 MMBF) from pre-recession

2006, and almost 43 percent higher than the 2009 low point (750 MMBF) during the Great Recession. Private industrial timberlands held stable around 46 percent (484 MMBF) of harvest. Timber harvested from non-industrial private forest

(NIPF) lands fell from 31 percent of the total harvest in 2006 to just 12 percent for

2011 (from 348 MMBF to 130 MMBF). Public lands contributed 42 percent of the

harvest in 2011 compared to 26 percent in 2006. Harvest from IDL lands increased

from 18.6 percent to 32.6 of total harvest volume for 2011, 140 MMBF over 2006

(from 208 MMBF to 348 MMBF). National Forest harvest (103 MMBF) increased

from 7 percent of total harvest in 2006 to 9.7 percent in 2011.The National Forest

harvest in 2011 represented a 36 percent increase over 2006 (76 MMBF) and a

29 percent increase over 2001 (80 MMBF) (table 3).

Historically, the majority of Idaho’s timber harvest has been processed into lumber and plywood, and in 2011, about 89 percent of Idaho’s harvest was used to

produce these products. Private lands continue to be the primary source of raw

material for saw and veneer logs, providing 52 percent (549 MMBF) of the total

supply in 2011 (table 4). Private lands accounted for about 76 percent of the saw

and veneer logs in both 2006 and 2001. Prior to 1995, data showed private lands

providing less than half of Idaho’s saw and veneer log harvest (Keegan and others

1997; Morgan and others 2004).

Although substantial harvest declines from National Forests since the mid1990s have contributed to the increase in the portion of harvest from private lands,

2011 saw a small reversal. In 2011, the National Forest provided 8.5 percent

(90.5 MMBF) of Idaho’s saw and veneer log harvest compared to just 6 percent

(63 MMBF) and 7 percent (71 MMBF) in 2006 and 2001, respectively.

Idaho’s pulpwood harvest in 2011 was 74 MMBF, an increase of 45 percent over

2006 (51 MMBF). Pulpwood represented 6.9 percent of the 2011 harvest compared to 4.5 percent in 2006. Strong pulpwood markets often occur when lumber

production and prices are down. This is because sawmill residue supplies shrink

and residue users, such as the pulp and paper industry, turn to chipped roundwood

for their fiber needs. The pulp and paper sector typically relies on private lands for

a large portion of their roundwood receipts. Private timberlands supplied 64 percent of the pulpwood volume in 2011 versus 77 percent in 2006, and 80 percent in

2001. The difference in the private harvest of pulpwood among study years indicates the strength of the pulp market during those years. National forests provided

10 percent of the 2011 pulpwood harvest and state lands provided 23 percent.

In 2011, the combined harvest for cedar products, house logs, posts, poles, rails,

utility poles, and other products totaled 47.5 MMBF. Previous mill censuses indicated that the harvest for these products was 46 MMBF in 2006 and 43 MMBF

in 2001. Public timberlands provided 63.8 percent of the harvest for this group

of products in 2011. This is about the same as 2006 (63 percent) and higher than

2001 (52 percent). The total harvest of cedar products in 2011 (30.5 MMBF) increased 35 percent from 2006 (22.6 MMBF) and was 3 percent higher than the

2001 harvest (29.5 MMBF). The total harvest for post, poles, utility poles, and
USDA Forest Service Resour. Bull. RMRS-RB-19. 2014 9

Ownership class 1979 1985 1990 1995 2001 2006 2011

Private 808,749 779,109 754,978 829,417 750,590 833,797 615,012

 Industrial 455,721 467,474 364,178 467,518 443,029 485,590 484,176

 Non-industrial privatea 353,028 311,635 390,800 361,899 307,561 348,207 130,836

Public 1,041,719 814,787 937,560 540,296 256,704 286,813 450,893

 National Forest 866,455 631,003 700,715 301,277 77,863 78,613 102,937

 Other publicb 175,264 183,784 236,845 239,019 178,841 208,200 347,956

All ownersb 1,850,468 1,593,896 1,692,538 1,369,713 1,007,294 1,120,610 1,065,905

Private 43.7 48.9 44.6 60.6 74.5 74.4 57.7

 Industrial 24.6 29.3 21.5 34.1 44.0 43.3 45.4

 Non-industrial privatea 19.1 19.6 23.1 26.4 30.5 31.1 12.3

Public 56.3 51.1 55.4 39.4 25.5 25.6 42.3

 National Forest 46.8 39.6 41.4 22.0 7.7 7.0 9.7

 Other publicb 9.5 11.5 14.0 17.5 17.8 18.6 32.6

All ownersb 100 100 100 100 100 100 100

a

 Non-industrial private includes Tribal harvest.

- - - - - - Thousand board feet, Scribner - - - - - -

Table 3-- Idaho timber harvest (MBF, Scribner) by ownership class, selected years (sources: Keegan and 

others 1982, 1988, 1992, 1997; Morgan and others 2004; Brandt and others 2012).

b

Other public refers to state owned timberlands and Bureau of Land Management timberlands.

- - - - - - - - - - - - Percent - - - - - - - - - - - -

Table 4--Idaho timber harvest by ownership class and timber product 2011.

Ownership class Saw and 

veneer logsa

House

logs

Cedar

products

Other

timber

productsb

All

products

Private timberlands 549,247 127 11,039 54,599 615,012

 Industrial 441,205 57 1,476 41,438 484,176

 Non-industrial privatec 108,042 70 9,563 13,161 130,836

Public timberlands 394,989 283 19,461 36,161 450,893

 National Forest 90,501 178 2,300 9,958 102,937

 State 300,631 105 15,028 25,703 341,467

 BLM 3,857 - 2,133 500 6,490

All owners 944,236 410 30,500 90,760 1,065,905

Private timberlands 51.5 0.01 1.0 5.1 57.7

 Industrial 41.4 0.01 0.1 3.9 45.4

 Non-industrial privatec 10.1 0.01 0.9 1.2 12.3

Public timberlands 37.1 0.03 1.8 3.4 42.3

 National Forest 8.5 0.02 0.2 0.9 9.7

 State 28.2 0.01 1.4 2.4 32.0

 BLM 0.4 - 0.2 0.05 0.6

All owners 88.6 0.04 2.9 8.5 100

a Saw and veneer logs combined to prevent disclosure of firm level data.

b Other timber products include logs used for pulpwood, posts and poles, utility poles, 

furniture logs, and energywood logs.

c Non-industrial private includes Tribal harvest.

 - - - - - - - - - - - - - Percent of harvest - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

- - - - - - - - - - Thousand board feet, Scribner - - - - - - - - - - - - -
10 USDA Forest Service Resour. Bull. RMRS-RB-19. 2014

rails decreased 8.6 percent from 19.4 MMBF in 2006 (adjusted to reflect additional

facilities) to 16.7 MMBF in 2011. Public land provided 63.8 percent of the harvest

for cedar products and 63.7 percent of the harvest for posts, poles, utility poles,

and rails. As a product of the Great Recession and the collapse of the construction

boom, harvesting for house logs plummeted from 14 MMBF in 2006 to just 410

MBF. In 2006, 88 percent of the houselog harvest came from National Forests. In

2011, 43 percent came from National Forests, 31 percent from private lands, and

26 percent from IDL.

Harvest by Species

True firs (Abies spp.)—grand fir (Abies grandis ) and subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa (Hook.) Nutt.)—were the largest component (35 percent) of Idaho’s 2011

timber harvest, which was similar to 2006 (table 5). Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga 

menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) at 24 percent was the second largest component of the

2011 harvest. As in 2006, western redcedar (Thuja plicata Donn ex D. Donn) and

ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex Laws.) rounded out the top four most

harvested species. These four species comprised 82 and 81 percent of the total

harvest in 2006 and 2011 respectively. The decline in the harvest of western white

pine (Pinus monticola Dougl. ex D. Don) has been the greatest change to occur in

the species composition of the timber harvest in Idaho during the last 30 years. In

1969, the white pine harvest was about 343 MMBF and accounted for 19 percent

of Idaho’s timber harvest; by 2001 the white pine timber harvest had dropped to

39 MMBF or 4 percent of the total harvest. In 2006 and again in 2011, the western white pine harvest in Idaho had declined further, making up just 1 percent of

Idaho’s timber harvest. This change is the result of several interacting factors but

by far the biggest blow to white pine was dealt by white pine blister rust, an exotic

disease introduced to the United States from Europe in the early 1900s. By the

1940s, blister rust had reached epidemic levels and caused great damage to the

white pine resource throughout the Inland Northwest (Fins and others 2001).

Species 1969 1979 1985 1990 1995 2001 2006 2011

True firs 24 22 27 23 25 24 34 35

Douglas-fir 18 20 21 22 27 26 28 24

Western redcedar 7 11 10 11 9 10 13 12

Ponderosa pine 14 13 12 18 17 7 7 10

Western hemlock a 1 3 3 4 12 4 7

Western larch 6 6 6 6 6 10 5 6

Lodgepole pine 4 8 10 10 6 5 5 3

Spruces a 35322 2 2

Western white pine 19 8 6 5 3 4 1 1

Other speciesa 891 N/A 2 N/A 1 N/A

All speciesb 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100

b

Percentage detail may not sum to 100% due to rounding.

a

Western hemlock and Englemann spruce were included in the other species group in 1969.

- - - - - - - - - Percentage of harvest (MBF, Scribner)- - - - - - - - -

Table 5--Proportion of Idaho timber harvest by species, selected years (sources: Setzer 1970; Morgan and others 

2004; Brandt and others 2012).
USDA Forest Service Resour. Bull. RMRS-RB-19. 2014 11

Species Composition of Product Types

In 2011, all of Idaho’s species groups were used to produce lumber. Overall

harvest by species for 2011 closely matched what was found in 2006. As in 2006,

true firs were the species most harvested for saw and veneer logs, comprising

36 percent of the saw and veneer log harvest, while Douglas-fir accounted for

26 percent (table 6). Western redcedar and ponderosa pine represented 10 percent

and 11 percent of the saw and veneer log harvest in Idaho respectively.

Changes in the harvest for products other than saw and veneer logs can be attributed to the influence of reduced demand for saw/veneer logs, house logs, and

strong pulpwood markets. The 2011 harvest for other timber products (90 MMBF)

including pulpwood, posts and poles, furniture log, and energy wood, was primarily made up of true firs (44 percent), western hemlock (26 percent), western redcedar (15 percent), and Douglas-fir (8 percent). Posts and small poles accounted

for 3.6 percent (3.3 MMBF) for other products. The primary species harvested

for posts and small non-utility pole products were lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta

Dougl. Ex Loud.) (79 percent) and ponderosa pine (14 percent). The western redcedar harvested for other timber products was used entirely to make utility poles.

Harvest for cedar products was 30 MMBF in 2011, 30 percent higher than in 2006

(23 MMBF). In 2006, Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii Parry ex Engelm.),

and Douglas-fir accounted for 60 percent of the house log harvest, in 2011 they

were only 25 percent. Lodgepole pine and ponderosa pine comprised 59 percent of

the timber used for house logs during 2011.

Table 6--Idaho timber harvest by species and timber product, 2011.

Species Saw and veneer 

logsa House logs Cedar productsb Other timber 

productsc All products

True firs 338,437 35 - 39,869 378,341

Douglas-fir 244,200 37 - 7,711 251,947

Western redcedar 91,191 11 30,500 13,876 135,579

Ponderosa pine 105,775 54 - 1,026 106,854

Western hemlock 51,057 - - 23,562 74,619

Western larch 61,021 12 - 549 61,581

Lodgepole pine 28,587 188 - 3,390 32,164

Spruce 16,620 68 - 426 17,113

Western white pine 7,349 6 - 352 7,707

All species 944,236 410 30,500 90,760 1,065,905

True firs 36 8 - 44 35

Douglas-fir 26 9 - 8 24

Western redcedar 10 3 100 15 13

Ponderosa pine 11 13 - 1 10

Western hemlock 5 - - 26 7

Western larch 63-1 6

Lodgepole pine 3 46 - 4 3

Spruce 2 16 - - 2

Western white pine 11- - 1

All speciesd 100 100 100 100 100

b Cedar products include logs used for cedar shakes, shingles and split rail fencing.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Thousand board feet, Scribner - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Percent of harvest by product - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

a Saw and veneer logs combined to prevent disclosure of firm level data.

c Other timber products include logs used for pulpwood, posts and poles, utility poles firewood, furniture log, and energy wood.

d Percentage detail may not sum to 100% due to rounding.
12 USDA Forest Service Resour. Bull. RMRS-RB-19. 2014

 Movement of Timber Products

The concentration of production at fewer and larger wood products facilities and

shifting patterns of harvest have created manufacturing centers that draw timber

from large geographic areas. Thus, large volumes of timber move across county

and state boundary lines, because most Idaho counties with mills, especially in

southern Idaho, now have only one or two timber processing facilities. To avoid

disclosure of firm-level timber receipt information, timber movement is described

by three broad geographic regions: northern Idaho, southwestern Idaho, and southeastern Idaho.

Movement across state lines—In 2011, 9 percent (95 MMBF) of Idaho’s harvest

was shipped for processing outside of the state (table 7). Idaho’s primary wood

products manufacturers received 102 MMBF of timber that was harvested outside

of Idaho, making the state a net importer of nearly 7 MMBF of timber in 2011.

Previous reports indicated that Idaho had net log flow out of Idaho ranging from

7 to 39 MMBF (Brandt and others 2012). Idaho mills received over 16 MMBF

of timber from Canada in 2011, compared to 9 MMBF in 2006 and 28 MMBF

in 2001. In 2011, 59 percent (51 MMBF) of Idaho’s timber imports came from

Washington, 37 percent (32 MMBF) from Montana, and the balance came from

Wyoming, Utah, Oregon, and Canada.

Southern Idaho counties supplied 55 percent (52 MMBF) of Idaho’s log flow to

other states in 2011, with southwestern Idaho counties accounting for the majority

(44 MMBF) of that volume, and northern Idaho counties were the source of the

remaining 45 percent (43 MMBF) of log flow to other states.

Saw and veneer logs were the major component of timber harvest flowing into

and out of Idaho. In 2011, Idaho sawmills and plywood/veneer mills imported

92 MMBF of saw and veneer logs, while 82 MMBF of saw and veneer logs went

out of state. About 4 MMBF were imported for cedar products and 5 MMBF for

other products. Most of the volume for other products that went out of Idaho went

for pulp and paper products.

Movement within Idaho—More than 90 percent (970 MMBF) of Idaho’s 2011

timber harvest was processed within the state (table 8). Timber movement among

Idaho’s three regions is somewhat varied. In northern Idaho, 95 percent of timber

harvested was processed within the region of harvest, essentially the same as in

2006. However, in southeastern Idaho, only 16 percent was processed in the region

Saw and veneer logs 92,432 81,591 10,841

House logs 1,459 8 1,451

Cedar products 3,700 1,045 2,655

Other productsa 4,843 12,807 (7,964)

All products 102,433 95,451 6,982 a

Other products include logs for pulpwood, posts and poles, log 

furniture, and industrial fuelwood.

Table 7--Log flow into and out of Idaho, 2011.

Timber products

Log flow into 

Idaho

Log flow out 

of Idaho

 Net imports 

(net exports)

- - - - - Thousand board feet, Scribner - - - - -
USDA Forest Service Resour. Bull. RMRS-RB-19. 2014 13 Table 8--Intra-state and inter-state timber flow of 2011 Idaho timber harvest. Region of harvest Delivered to county of harvest Delivered to adjacent ID county Delivered to non-adjacent ID county Total delivered to northern Idaho Total delivered to southwestern Idaho Total delivered to southeastern Idaho Total delivered to Idaho Total delivered out- of-State Total harvest Northern Idaho 305,382 460,533 143,756 906,894 2,759 18 909,671 43,639 953,310 Southwestern Idaho 13,144 31,754 14,373 35,095 24,163 13 59,270 44,329 103,599 Southeastern Idaho 987 356 170 37 - 1,476 1,513 7,483 8,996 Idaho total 319,512 492,642 158,299 942,026 26,922 1,506 970,454 95,451 1,065,905 Northern Idaho 32 48 15 95 0 - 95 5 89 Southwestern Idaho 13 31 14 34 23 0 57 43 10 Southeastern Idaho 11 4 2 0 - 16 17 83 1 Idaho Total 30 46 15 88 3 0 91 9 100 Intra-state timber flow Inter-state timber flow - - - - - - - - Percentage of total harvest by region - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Thousand board feet, Scribner - - - - - - - - 
14 USDA Forest Service Resour. Bull. RMRS-RB-19. 2014

where it was harvested, a sharp decline from the 46 percent that remained in the region during 2006. In southwestern Idaho, the trend was the opposite, with 23 percent of the 2011 harvest processed in the region compared to 20 percent in 2006.

Seventy percent of the timber harvested in 2011 was processed in a county other

than the county of harvest, quite similar to 73 percent in 2006 and 68 percent in

2001. These data suggest timber is traveling a greater distance to be processed than

historically, and reflect the loss of milling infrastructure in southern Idaho (fig. 3).

Northern Idaho: The 10 counties north of the Salmon River are the center of

Idaho’s timber harvesting and processing activities. The 2011 total harvest in these

counties was about 953 MMBF, or 89 percent of the state’s harvest. Ninety-five

percent (906 MMBF) of the timber harvested in northern Idaho was processed

in northern Idaho, while the remaining 5 percent (50 MMBF) was processed in

another region or state. Only 3 MMBF of timber harvest in northern Idaho was

processed south of the Salmon River. Thirty-two percent of timber harvested in

northern Idaho was processed in the county of harvest. Forty-eight percent was

processed in counties adjacent to (sharing a county line with) the county of harvest,

and 15 percent was processed in counties not adjacent to the county of harvest.

Southwestern Idaho: Just over 103 MMBF of timber, 10 percent of the state’s

total harvest was harvested in the 10 southwestern countiesin 2011.Approximately

43 percent (44 MMBF) was processed outside the state. Of the 57 percent (59

MMBF) that was processed in Idaho, 24 MMBF were processed in southwestern

Idaho, and 35 MMBF of this harvest was processed in northern Idaho, with virtually none of the harvest being processed in southeastern Idaho. Within southwestern Idaho, 13 percent (13 MMBF) of the timber was processed in the county

of harvest, while 87 percent (90 MMBF) was processed in other counties. About

0 

10 

20 

30 

40 

50 

60 

70 

1985 1990 1995 Year	
   2001 2006 2011 

Percent of receipts from county Percent of receipts from other county Percent of receipts from outside of Idaho 

Figure 3—Movement of timber in Idaho select years.
USDA Forest Service Resour. Bull. RMRS-RB-19. 2014 15

32 MMBF was processed in counties adjacent to the county of harvest, and 14

MMBF were processed in counties not adjacent to the county of harvest.

Southeastern Idaho: Southeastern Idaho accounted for the smallest percentage

of volume harvested in Idaho in 2011, with only 9 MMBF (1 percent). Less than

a quarter of this volume (1.5 MMBF) was processed in Idaho; 7.5 MMBF were

processed outside the state. Of the 1.5 MMBF processed in Idaho, 97.5 percent

stayed in southeastern Idaho with the remaining 2.5 percent processed in northern

Idaho. Of the timber harvested in southeastern Idaho that remained in the state for

processing, 65 percent was processed in the county of harvest and 24 percent was

processed in counties adjacent to the county of harvest. The remaining 11 percent

was processed in counties not adjacent to the county of harvest.

 End Uses of Idaho’s Timber

In this section, we trace the flow of Idaho’s timber harvest through the state’s

primary manufacturing sectors. Because timber, wood products, and mill residue

are displayed, volumes are presented in cubic feet rather than board feet Scribner.

These figures refer to Idaho’s timber harvest and include timber products shipped

to out-of-state mills; they do not include timber harvested in other states and processed in Idaho. The following conversion factors were used to convert board foot

Scribner volume to cubic foot volume:

•	 5.07 board feet Scribner per cubic foot for saw and veneer logs

•	 5.23 board feet per cubic foot for house logs

•	 3.58 board feet per cubic foot for cedar logs

•	 1.56 board feet per cubic foot for post and poles

•	 4.87 board feet per cubic foot for utility poles

•	 1.99 board feet per cubic foot for log furniture

•	 2.43 board feet per cubic foot for pulpwood and all other timber products

During 2011, Idaho’s timber harvest was approximately 230,728 thousand cubic feet (MCF), exclusive of bark (fig. 4). Of this volume, 186,575 MCF went to

sawmills and plywood plants, 30,460 MCF to pulp, 8,761 MCF to cedar mills,

4,854 MCF to posts, poles, utility poles, and log furniture manufacturers, and 78

MCF to log home manufacturers.

Of the 186,575 MCF received by sawmills and plywood plants, 90,012 MCF

(48 percent) became finished lumber, other sawn products, or plywood and veneer

products, and 3,966 MCF were lost to shrinkage. The remaining 92,597 MCF of

wood fiber became mill residue. About 88,187 MCF of sawmill residues were

used as raw material by pulp mills and board plants; 4,397 MCF were sold or used

internally as hog fuel to generate energy. Only 13 MCF of sawmill and plywood

plant residues went unused in 2011.

Pulp and paper mills and other residue-using plants, both in Idaho and in other

states, received approximately 30,460 MCF of wood fiber from Idaho timberlands.

Saw and veneer mills supplied 88,187 MCF of mill residue to pulp and board

manufacturers, and other sectors supplied 1,093 MCF.
16 USDA Forest Service Resour. Bull. RMRS-RB-19. 2014

Cedar mills received 8,761 MCF of timber, of which 5,388 MCF became cedar

products and 2,345 MCF were sold or used for energy/hog fuel. Post, pole, utility

pole, and log furniture manufacturers received 4,854 MCF and produced 4,335

MCF in products. Log home manufacturers received 78 MCF, of which 44 MCF

became house logs. Mills in this and the post/pole/furniture sector seldom supplied

residue for use in other sectors. Most of the residue from these facilities was used

as firewood, livestock bedding, and landscape/mulch products.

Figure 4—Idaho’s timber harvest and flow, 2011.

Post, poles, Utility 

poles, Log furniture 

facilities 4,854 MCF

Log home 

manufacturers

78 MCF

House logs and 

log homes 44 

MCF

Post, poles utility 

poles and log 

furniture 4,335 MCF

Lumber and other sawn 

products. Plywood and 

veneer 90,012 MCF

Total harvesta

230,728 MCF

Energy

4,397 MCF

Pulp, board and other 

residueb related 

facilities 30,460 MCF

Cedar fencing, 

shakes, and other 

products 5,388 MCF

Unutilized residue

13 MCF

Shrinkage

3,966 MCF

Sawmills, plywood, 

and veneer mills

186,575 MCF

Residue utilizing 

plants 88,187 MCF

Energy

21 MCF

Energy

348 MCF

Unutilized 

residue 108 

MCF

Unutilized residue

2 MCF

a Harvest volume does not include bark.

bOther residue related facilities include energy plants, energy 

products, roundwood chipping, mulch, and animal bedding 

operations.

Cedar products 

mills

8,761 MCF

Energy

2,345 MCF

Residue utilizing 

plants 1,026 MCF

Residue 

utilizing plants 

63 MCF

Unutilized residue

9 MCF

Pulp, board and other 

residue utilizing products 

119,740 MCF

Residue utilizing 

plants 4 MCF
USDA Forest Service Resour. Bull. RMRS-RB-19. 2014 17

Structure of Idaho’s Forest Products Industry

Structure and Location

In 2011, timber-processing facilities operated in 27 of Idaho’s 44 counties,

while timber was harvested in 29 counties. Idaho’s 10 northern counties contain

the greatest concentration of the primary forest products industry (fig. 5), which

includes plants that manufacture:

•	 Lumber and other sawn products

•	 Veneer/plywood

•	 Posts, utility poles, small poles, stakes, and roundwood furniture

•	 House logs and log homes

•	 Cedar products—shakes, shingles and split rail fencing

•	 Other products including pulp and paper, particleboard, chips, decorative bark,

wood fuel pellets, and energy from biomass

The 2011 FIDACs mill censusidentified 88 active primary forest products plants

(table 9), 26 fewer than in 2006. Every sector experienced temporary or permanent

closures during the poor market conditions from 2007 to 2011. The log home sector was the hardest hit in the years between 2006 and 2011. Because there are only

two plywood/veneer facilities remaining in Idaho, mill level data for this sector

have been combined with the sawmill analysis to prevent disclosure. Several large

facilities have closed since the last study; these closures are addressed in more

detail in the individual sector discussions.
18 USDA Forest Service Resour. Bull. RMRS-RB-19. 2014

Figure 5—Location of Idaho’s active primary forest products manufacturers, 2011.
USDA Forest Service Resour. Bull. RMRS-RB-19. 2014 19

County Lumber Veneer/plywood Post, poles, and 

log furniture

Log

homes

Cedar

products

Residue-related

productsa All products

Ada 1 2 14

Adams 1 2 3

Bear Lake 1 1 13

Benewah 3 1 2 1 7

Blaine 1 1

Boise 2 1 3

Bonner 3 6 2 1 1 13

Boundary 2 21 2 7

Canyon 1 1 2

Caribou 1 1

Clearwater 2 2 4

Custer 1 1

Fremont 1 1

Gem 1 1

Idaho 3 2 2 7

Jefferson 1 1 2

Kootenai 21 21 2 8

Latah 2 2 11 6

Lewis 1 1

Lincoln 1 1

Madison 1 1 2

Nez Perce 1 3 4

Payette 1 1

Shoshone 1 1 2

Teton 1

Twin Falls 1 1

Valley 1 1

2011 Total 27 2 17 16 8 18 88

2006 Total b 38 3 21 26 8 18 114

2001 Total 35 4 22 21 10 17 109

1995 Total 62 6 32 32 15 15 162

1990 Total 80 6 27 22 26 11 172

1985 Total 90 7 26 20 25 6 174

1979 Total 133 8 35 15 44 7 242

Table 9--Active Idaho primary wood products facilities by county and product during 2011 and other years (sources: 

Keegan and others 1997; Morgan and others 2004; Brandt and others 2012).

a

Residue-related products include particleboard, chips, pulp and paper products, bioenergy products, and decorative bark.

b

2006 numbers have been adjusted to reflect facilities active but not previously reported.
20 USDA Forest Service Resour. Bull. RMRS-RB-19. 2014

Sales Value of Primary Wood Products

The periodic wood products industry censuses for Idaho have been produced

since 1979 and provide the most complete estimates of sales values for Idaho’s

primary forest products industry. Various other sources were used to estimate sales

values for the non-census years between 1977 and 2013 (Random Lengths 1976-

2013; WWPA 1964-2013). All sales are reported free on board (f.o.b.) the producing mill. Sales by Idaho’s primary forest products industry totaled $1.4 billion in

2011, an inflation-adjusted decrease of nearly $430 million (23 percent) from 2006

(table 10). Updated estimates indicate sales have increased since 2011 by $300

million (20 percent) in 2011 dollars (Morgan and others 2014).

About 93 percent of primary wood products sales are concentrated in three

sectors of the industry: sawmills, structural panels (plywood and veneer), and

residue-related products. Residue-related products include particleboard, chips,

pulp and paper products, bioenergy products, decorative bark, and mill residues.

Sales values for residue-related products also include mill residues sold to users

within Idaho as well as outside the state.

Sales values for lumber from Idaho sawmills peaked in 1978 at nearly $1.5 billion (in 2011 dollars) (fig. 6) and sales of all primary products totaled $2.4 billion

in 1978. Since 1999 sales have declined steadily, primarily due to lower per-unit

prices as well as curtailments and closures. The lumber sales value of nearly $855

million in 2001 was the lowest since 1985 ($806 million). To prevent disclosure of

firm level information, sales data for lumber and other sawn products were combined with plywood and veneer sales in 2006. For 2006, sales of these products

totaled almost $865 million dollars. Since 2006 the Great Recession has reduced

the sales value of lumber and plywood/veneer by 41 percent from $865 to under

$513 million in 2011.

Total sales of all primary processors have been buoyed and stabilized to a degree by the expansion of the residue-utilizing sector. This sector has shown substantial increases in sales over the past 25 years and has become an increasingly

important part of Idaho’s forest products industry. Inflation-adjusted sales were

about $692 million in 1979, versus nearly $790 million in 2011. Sales by residue

utilizing manufacturers accounted for about 56 percent of Idaho’s primary forest

Product 1979 1985 1990 1995 2001 2006 2011

Lumber, timbers, other sawn products 1,434.3 805.6 874.4 994.4 854.7 864.8b 512.6b

Residue-related productsa 691.8 727.8 897.8 959.7 1,010.0 849.8 790.5

Plywood and veneer 243.1 152.4 169.3 239.5 86.9 b b

House logs and log homes 22.2 6.2 16.4 29.1 31.7 42.0 8.0

Cedar products 37.3 15.2 22.7 19.5 37.8 37.1 52.9

Posts, poles, and log furnitiure 47.0 23.7 42.5 36.4 27.6 36.7 38.6

All products 2,475.8 1,730.9 2,023.2 2,278.6 2,048.7 1,830.4c 1,402.6

b

Plywood and veneer sales included with lumber to prevent disclosure of firm level data.

c

2006 Sales value adjusted to reflect facilities not reported previously.

Table 10--Sales value of Idaho's primary wood products, selected years (sources:Keegan and others 1982, 1988, 1992, 1997, Morgan 

and others 2004, Brandt and others 2012).

- - - - - - - - - Million 2011 dollars - - - - - - - - -

a

Residue-related products include particleboard, chips, pulp and paper products, bioenergy products, decorative bark, and mill residues sold within 

and outside the state.
USDA Forest Service Resour. Bull. RMRS-RB-19. 2014 21

industry sales in 2011, versus 28 percent in the late 1970s. Part of the increase in

the proportion of residue sales is a function of recent weak markets for lumber.

As demand for lumber increases, with increased housing starts, lumber should

once again account for more than 40 percent of the of primary products sales.

Like other sectors of the industry in 2011, residue revenue decreased compared to

2006 with a 7 percent decline in sales value ($850 million to $790 million). Sales

by the remaining sectors of Idaho’s primary wood products industry totaled over

$99.5 million, the highest for any census year and a 4 percent increase over 2006.

Unlike the sales for other products that increased from 2006 levels, house log sales

dropped drastically.

Timber Received by Idaho Mills

Timber receipts refer to the volume of timber delivered to Idaho mills from

in-state and out-of-state sources. Timber receipts for Idaho mills differ from the

state’s timber harvest because some timber harvested in Idaho was processed in

other states, and some of the timber processed in Idaho was harvested outside the

state.

Figure 6—Sales value of Idaho’s primary forest products, 1977 through 2013 (sources: WWPA 1977 through 2013; Brandt and 

others 2012; and Morgan and others 2014).

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

19771982198719921997200220072012

Sales value (million 2011dollars)

YEAR

Other Products

Plywood

Residue Products

Lumber and plywood after

2005
22 USDA Forest Service Resour. Bull. RMRS-RB-19. 2014

Idaho mills received close to 1,073 MMBF Scribner of timber for processing

during 2011, a 7 percent (77 MBF) decrease from 2006. Saw and veneer logs constituted the vast majority (89 percent) of Idaho’s timber receipts, while logs used

for other timber products, including posts and poles, log furniture, pulpwood, and

industrial fuelwood, accounted for 8 percent of receipts in 2011. The remaining 3

percent of timber receipts consisted of logs used in cedar products and house logs

used by log home manufacturers.

Private landssupplied the majority of each timber product category, except house

logs and cedar products. National Forests were the leading supplier of timber to

Idaho log home manufacturers and IDL timberlands for cedar products (table 11).

Industrial lands were the leading supplier of saw and veneer logs (464 MMBF) and

provided the majority of volume (40 MMBF) for other products in 2011.

True firs were the leading species received by Idaho mills in 2011, accounting

for nearly 36 percent of receipts followed by Douglas-fir, which accounted for 24

percent of Idaho’s timber receipts (table 12). True firs accounted for the largest

proportion of sawlogs and veneer logs, as well as other products, while lodgepole

pine provided the largest proportion of house log receipts.

Table 11--Idaho timber receipts by ownership class and product, 2011.

Ownership class Saw and veneer logsa House logs Cedar products Other productsb All products

Private 581,786 630 13,694 51,789 647,899

 Industrial 463,623 489 906 40,929 505,947

 Non-industrial privatec 118,163 141 12,788 10,860 141,952

Public 357,267 1,125 19,461 30,831 408,684

 National Forest 77,766 944 2,300 8,706 89,716

 State 278,668 181 15,028 21,625 315,502

 BLM 833 - 2,133 500 3,466

Canadian and unspecifiedd 16,022 105 - 177 16,304

All owners 955,075 1,860 33,155 82,797 1,072,887

d

Includes timber receipts from Canada and unspecified out-of-state sources.

a

Saw and veneer logs combined to prevent disclosure of firm level data.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Thousand board feet, Scribner - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

c Non-industrial private includes Tribal harvest.

b

Other products include logs used for pulpwood, posts and poles, utility poles, cants, log furniture, and energywood logs.
USDA Forest Service Resour. Bull. RMRS-RB-19. 2014 23

Sawmill and Plywood/Veneer Sector

Sawmills are the major component of Idaho’s primary forest products industry

in terms of sales value, number of facilities, and timber volume processed. In 2011,

Idaho’s 27 active sawmills processed the majority of the timber in the state and

produced 1.4 billion board feet of lumber and other sawn products. Idaho’s 2011

production represented 5.1 percent of the total U.S. production of softwood lumber

(4.9 percent in 2006) and about 3.9 percent of the nation’s softwood lumber consumption (2.9 percent in 2006) (WWPA 1964-2013).

The most common species used by Idaho’s sawmill sector are Douglas-fir and

true firs, with smaller volumes of western hemlock, western larch, western redcedar, ponderosa pine, lodgepole pine, western white pine, and Engelmann spruce.

High quality select and shop grades of lumber are produced, as are small volumes

of structural timbers, but approximately 87 percent of production is dimension and

stud lumber used for construction.

Changes in lumber production—Milling timber into lumber has always been

an important part of Idaho’s forest products industry with the greatest growth in

lumber production occurring after the Second World War. By 1959 the volume of

lumber produced in Idaho had nearly doubled from about 1 billion board feet lumber tally in 1947 to almost 1.8 billion (Setzer and Wilson 1970). Idaho’s lumber

production (fig. 7) clearly shows the influence of markets with a peak in the late

1970s of nearly 2 billion board feet. Lumber production fluctuated in response to

timber availability, demand for lumber, changes in mill technology, and use of

timber by other sectors over the next two decades and by the late 1990s was around

Table 12--Idaho timber receipts by species and product, 2011.

Species Saw and veneer logsa House logs Cedar products Other productsb All products

True firs 347,108 118 - 35,703 382,929

Douglas-fir 252,543 246 - 5,673 258,463

Western redcedar 98,070 53.9 33,155 13,887 145,166

Ponderosa pine 80,324 62 - 1,380 81,767

Western hemlock 57,548 - - 21,550 79,098

Western larch 61,732 54 - 485 62,271

Lodgepole pine 28,220 703 - 3,633 32,556

Spruce 16,698 596 - 50 17,344

Western white pine 12,082 27 - 435 12,544

Other speciesb 750 - - - 750

All species 955,075 1,860 33,155 82,797 1,072,887

True firs 36.3 6.36 - 43.1 35.7

Douglas-fir 26.4 13.24 - 6.9 24.1

Western redcedar 10.3 2.90 100 16.8 13.5

Ponderosa pine 8.4 3.35 - 1.7 7.6

Western hemlock 6.0 - - 26.0 7.4

Western larch 6.5 2.88 - 0.6 5.8

Lodgepole pine 3.0 37.82 - 4.4 3.0

Spruce 1.7 32.02 - 0.1 1.6

Western white pine 1.3 1.43 - 0.5 1.2

Other speciesc 0.1 - - - 0.1

All speciesd 100 100 100 100 100

c

Other species include: red alder, and other unknown species

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Thousand board feet, Scribner - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Percentage of receipts by product - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

a

Saw and veneer logs combined to prevent disclosure of firm level data.

b

Other products include logs used for pulpwood, posts and poles, log furniture, and industrial fuelwood.

d

Percentage detail may not sum to 100% due to rounding.
24 USDA Forest Service Resour. Bull. RMRS-RB-19. 2014

2 billion board feet. Between 1999 and 2005, lumber production averaged 1.9 billion board feet annually. In 2001 annual production totaling 1.8 billion board feet

was the lowest since 1996. In 2005, annual production of just over 2 billion board

feet was the highest since 1990.

Demand for dimensional lumber weakened in 2006 following the housing boom

that peaked in 2005 (fig 1). Lumber production in 2006 was 1.85 billion board

feet, and by 2009 had fallen 40 percent to just over 1.1 billion board feet, the lowest since 1951. In 2011 lumber production, in response to improved economic

conditions, increased to 1.3 billion board feet and has continued to increase to an

estimated 1.6 billion board feet for 2013.

Many Idaho sawmills were negatively impacted by falling lumber prices as a

result of the downturn in housing. Since 2006 several older mills have closed and

two new sawmills were built. Both of the new facilities purchased used equipment

to construct their mills. By 2013, both of these mills were closed.

Sawmill lumber recovery and lumber overrun—Product recovery ratios, or

the volume of output per unit of input, are a measure of efficiency reported as

lumber recovery factors (LRF) and lumber overrun (LO). The LRF is the lumber

output in MBF lumber tally divided by the timber input in thousand cubic feet

(MCF). Lumber overrun is the amount of lumber actually recovered in excess of

the amount predicted by the log scale, expressed as a proportion of the log scale.

Although LO is the most commonly quoted measure of lumber recovery/efficiency, LO is a less accurate portrayal of efficiency in lumber output per unit of timber

input primarily due to the Scribner log scale. The LRF better illustrates increased

lumber output as a function of improvements in technology and sawing techniques

(Keegan and others 2010).

Figure 7—Idaho lumber production, 1947 through 2013 (source: WWPA 1964 through 2013).

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

19471952195719621967197219771982198719921997200220072012

Lumber production (million board feet, lumber tally)

YEAR 
USDA Forest Service Resour. Bull. RMRS-RB-19. 2014 25

Both LO and LRF have shown substantial increases over the past 35 years as

shown in figure 8. Lumber overrun increased from 1.30 in 1979 to 1.89 in 2006

(Brandt and others 2012). Lumber recovery factors followed a similar pattern, increasing from about 6.6 board feet lumber tally per cubic foot of sawlog input

in 1979 to 8.13 board feet in 2006. The increase in Idaho lumber recovery and

overrun since 1979 is due primarily to improved sawing technology with lumber

overrun also influenced by the characteristics of the Scribner log rule. The Scribner

log rule underestimates the volume of lumber that can be recovered from a log,

especially when milling small diameter trees, thus increasing calculated overrun

(Keegan and others 2012).

In 2011, Idaho sawmills recovered an average of 1.67 board feet lumber tally

per board foot Scribner of input, just under a 12 percent decrease from 2006. The

first decline in sawmill overrun in 40 years while LRF increased to 8.33. Decreases

in lumber overrun can occur when less small-diameter timber is used to manufacture lumber and when markets are soft for lumber and strong for chips; smaller

trees are chipped instead of milled since sawmills frequently favor producing chips

instead of milling low grade lumber. In 2011, average quarterly conifer chip prices

were at a 3-year high (Random Lengths 2005-2013). The higher chip prices and

weak lumber markets likely led sawmills to chip more material rather than mill it

into lumber, thus driving LO down.

Lumber production by geographic area—Although lumber production increased

each study year from 1995 to 2006, the Great Recession had a dire impact on

Figure 8—Idaho sawmill lumber recovery and overrun 1979 through 2011 (source: Keegan and others 1997; Morgan and others 2004; Brandt and others 2012).

6.66 6.66

7.52 7.41

7.74

8.13

8.33

1.34

1.36 1.56 1.53

1.86 1.89

1.67

0

1

2

3

4

2

4

6

8

10

1979 1985 1990 1995 2001 2006 2011

Lumber Recovery (BF

Overrun (BF Lumber Tally per BF Scribner Log Input)

1 Lumber Tally per CF2 Log Input)

Year 1 Board Feet 2 Cubic Feet

Lumber recovery Overrun
26 USDA Forest Service Resour. Bull. RMRS-RB-19. 2014

Idaho’s timber industry. Lumber production in Idaho for 2006 was 1,805 MMBF

lumber tally, in 2011 it was 1,407 MMBF a 22 percent decrease but has rebounded

some to 1,494 MMBF in 2012 (WWPA 1964-2013) (table 13).

County-level lumber production data are withheld for some individual counties to avoid disclosure of firm-level information. Benewah, Bonner, Boundary,

Kootenai, and Shoshone counties were Idaho’s top lumber producing counties in

2011. This county group produced 769 MMBF, 55 percent of the total lumber

production in 2011, but was 63 percent of the total in 2006 (1,214 MMBF). The

remaining five counties in Northern Idaho provided 42 percent of Idaho’s lumber production, bringing the contribution of Northern Idaho to 97 percent (1,363

MMBF) of total Idaho lumber production in 2011.

The lumber industry in southern Idaho continued the downward trend that began in the late 1980s with a number of sawmill closures. Production in southern

Idaho fell 25 percent from 2006 to 2011, and has declined by 88 percent since

1990. Production at mills in southern Idaho, which received more than 75 percent

of their timber from National Forests in 1990 and over 60 percent in 1995 (Keegan

and others 1992, 1997), were more vulnerable to sharp declines in National Forest

timber availability. Boise Cascade permanently closed its timber processing facilities during 2001, citing declines in Federal timber availability as the primary

reason for the closures (Boise Cascade 2001).

Number and size of sawmills—The number of sawmills operating in Idaho has

continued to decline over the last 50 years as production has become increasingly

concentrated into a smaller number of large mills. The average output per mill has

increased continually over time to a level tenfold of that in 1956. At 52 MMBF,

the average output per mill in 2011 (table 14) was the same as in 2006 and double

what it was in 1995 (27 MMBF). Idaho sawmills with a production capacity of

over 50 MMBF annually accounted for 86 percent of Idaho’s lumber production

in 2011 compared to 94 percent in 2006 and just 39 percent in 1995. At the height

of the post-World War II housing boom in the 1950s, there were more than 300,

mostly small, sawmills in Idaho (table 15). The 2011 mill census identified 27 sawmills, down from 38 in 2006. However, five additional facilities that operated in

2006 were identified, four mills were moved to different sectors based on changing

product outputs, and four facilities were inactive during 2011, bringing the number

County group 1979 1985 1990 1995 2001 2006 2011

930,446 848,930 1,181,555 1,022,002 1,224,991 1,213,987 769,229

609,764 427,425 517,484 422,786 431,288 532,063 593,783

Northern Idaho 1,540,210 1,276,355 1,699,039 1,444,788 1,656,279 1,746,050 1,363,012

Southern Idaho 391,791 389,020 355,511 228,571 102,471 59,063 44,561

Idaho Total 1,932,001 1,665,375 2,054,550 1,673,359 1,758,750 1,805,113 1,407,573

Table 13--Idaho lumber production by geographic area, selected years (sources: Keegan and others 

1997, Morgan and others 2004, Brandt and others 2012).

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -MBF a , lumber tally - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

a

MBF = thousand board feet.

Latah, Lewis, 

Nez Perce, 

Clearwater,Idaho

Bonner, Boundary, 

Benewah, Kootenai, 

Shoshone
USDA Forest Service Resour. Bull. RMRS-RB-19. 2014 27

of actual sawmill closures to just five. Of the five closures, two were large mills

(capacity of 50+ MMBF), and 3 were mid-sized mills (capacity of between 1 and

50 MMBF). Mid-sized mills have had the most attrition in the last two decades.

The loss of several large and medium sized processors prior to 2006 was the result

of declining harvest on National Forest lands (Brandt and others 2012). Closures

since 2006 have been primarily due to economic conditions created by the Great

Recession and U.S. home building collapse (Keegan and others 2012). The 2011

mill census identified 14 mills producing more than 10 MMBF annually, down

from 17 in 2006 and the fewest in the last 50 years.

As lumber production has become increasingly concentrated into larger facilities, ownership of the facilities has also consolidated as a result of several mergers of large forest products companies in Idaho. In 2008, Riley Creek Lumber

and Bennett Forest Industries merged to become Idaho Forest Group (IFG) further consolidating the major sawmills in Idaho. Several mills changed names and

ownership between 2006 and 2012, mostly along the Clearwater River. The Three

Lumber production 

size class

Number

of mills

Percentage of 

production

Lumber

production

Average production 

per mill

MBF a MBF a

50+ MMBFb 9 86 1,205,972 133,997

10 to 50 MMBF 5 13 189,905 37,981

1 to 10 MMBF 4 1 10,075 2,519

Less than 1 MMBF 9 0 1,621 180

Total 27 100 1,407,573 52,132 a

Production volume in thousand board feet (MBF) lumber tally. b MMBF=million board feet lumber tally.

Table 14--Number of active Idaho sawmills by production size class and average annual lumber 

production, 2011.

Year Less than 10 

MMBF 10 to 50MMBF Over 50 MMBF Unknown Total number of 

sawmills

1956 274 37 a - 311

1962 151 42 a - 193

1966 123 45 a - 168

1973 67 39 6 10 122

1979 88 31 14 - 133

1985 52 24 14 - 90

1990 40 22 18 - 80

1995 29 17 16 - 62

2001 12 9 14 - 35

2006 18 3 14 - 38

2011 13 5 9 - 27

Table 15--Number of Idaho sawmills by annual lumber production, selected years (sources: 

Setzer and Wilson 1970; Keegan and others 1982, 1988, 1992, 1997; Morgan and others 2004; 

Brandt and others 2012).

a

Mills with lumber production in excess of 50 million board feet (MMBF) were included in the 10 to 

50 MMBF category for these years.
28 USDA Forest Service Resour. Bull. RMRS-RB-19. 2014

Rivers Sawmill became Blue North, Tri Pro Forest Products purchased Konkoville

Lumber, and the Potlatch Sawmill in Lewiston went to Clearwater Paper and was

eventually sold to IFG. In St. Maries, Stimson Lumber Company purchased the

Regulus Stud mill. Even though mills have closed since 2006, an attitude of optimism is reflected by the fact that several large facilities have made major capital

improvements in the last 3 years despite challenging market conditions and slow

recovery of U.S. housing starts (Morgan and others 2013 and 2014).

Plywood and Veneer mills—During the late 1950s and early 1960s, two plants

producing plywood and veneer operated in Idaho with combined total production of less than 50 million square feet (MMSF) annually. By 1979, eight plants

producing structural panels or veneer were operating in Idaho producing between

500 and 600 MMSF annually. With the addition of an oriented strand board (OSB)

plant in 1984 the number of active plants in Idaho rose to six. Production peaked

in 1988 at 639 MMSF. The period from 1985 to 1995 was marked by stability in

both the number of plants operating and production levels. All six plants operating

in 1985 were still operating in 1995, and production remained stable at approximately 600 MMSF per year. In the late 1990s, the structural panel sector began a

period of significant decline. The OSB plant closed in 1997, and a plywood plant

closed in 2000, reducing the number of active structural panel plants operating in

Idaho to four. Another plywood plant closed in 2001. The closures since 1995 were

due primarily to reduced timber availability, as well as increased competition from

OSB and plywood producers elsewhere in North America and overseas. In 2011,

only two plywood/veneer facilities remained in Idaho.

The combined harvest of saw and veneer logs in 2011 was 944 MMBF Scribner,

8 percent lower than 2006, 32 percent lower than 1995, and 40 percent lower than

1990. Reduced competition for timber from the plywood/veneer sector, advancements in sawmilling technology and fluctuating market conditions between 1990

and 2011 increased the proportion of the timber harvest utilized for lumber production. These factors have been the primary influences that have sustained lumber production in Idaho, while causing a substantial reduction of Idaho’s plywood

industry.

Residue-Related Products Sector

In addition to products such as lumber and plywood, the processing of timber

generates substantial volumes of wood fiber by-products. These by-products, referred to as mill residue, are the raw material source for the residue-related products sector. The 2011 mill census identified a total of 18 facilities in this sector. The

residue-related products sector includes a pulp and paperboard plant, a consumer

tissue products plant, a particleboard plant, three wood fuel pellet producers, five

facilities generating steam or electricity, two whole-log chipping facilities, and five

facilities producing bark-related products such as decorative landscaping material.

The total sales from the residue-related sector were nearly $790 million in 2011,

down 7 percent from 2006 ($849 million in constant 2011 dollars). This sector

remains a substantial part of Idaho’s forest products industry, accounting for approximately 56 percent of Idaho’s primary forest products sales in 2011, compared

to just 28 percent in 1979. The five facilities processing residues for landscape,
USDA Forest Service Resour. Bull. RMRS-RB-19. 2014 29

mulch and animal bedding products accounted for approximately 5 percent of the

sales value in this sector. Remaining sales came from pulp and paper, chipping

facilities, biomass plants, and heating products (pellets, compressed logs). In this

sector, Idaho has several one-of-a-kind facilities, thus plant level data have been

pooled to prevent disclosure of individual plant information.

Several Idaho firms operate plants producing energy from the burning of wood

residue. Most of these plants are associated with timber processing facilities and

historically produced steam energy for in-house use. Some of these plants began

to produce electricity for sale to outside markets in the early 1980s. The largest

biomass to energy plant in Idaho is located at the University of Idaho and supplies

the entire campus with steam heat by burning chipped logs and municipal wood

waste. One public school has a wood-fired heating system and participates in the

fuels for schools program while another burns commercial wood pellets.

Other Primary Manufacturers

In 2011, 41 (down from 55 in 2006) other primary manufacturers were identified that processed timber into cedar products, log homes, utility poles, posts, and

other small roundwood products such as corral poles, tree stakes, and round wood

log furniture (table 9). These facilities processed nearly 11 percent (117.8 MMBF)

of the timber received by Idaho facilities during 2011 and accounted for 7 percent

($99.5 million) of the primary industry’s total sales value, including mill residue

and residue related products.

Posts, poles, utility poles, and log furniture—In 2011, 17 plants in Idaho manufactured various types of roundwood products, such as utility poles, posts, corral

poles, and log furniture. A few log furniture and post/pole facilities have closed

since 2006, two sawmills were reclassified into this category because their product

mix changed, and two additional utility pole facilities were identified. Utility poles

accounted for 78 percent of roundwood inputs and 77 percent of the total sales

value in this category. By the end of 2012, McFarland Cascade‘s decades long association with Idaho ended as Stella Jones purchased the company, consolidating

the entities operating in this sector. Over the last two decades, this portion of the

industry has shown a great deal of stability in its contribution to the wood products

economy of Idaho. With a little more than half the number of facilities of 1995,

2011 sales value was 17 percent higher than 1995 ($38.6 million versus $32.9 million) and the highest for any study year since 1990 (table 10).

Cedar products—Eight cedar products facilities operated in Idaho during 2011,

the same as in 2006. Cedar product manufacturers processed 30 MMBF in 2011,

25 percent more than in 2006 (24 MMBF). Since 1979, the number of manufacturers for cedar products such as cedar shakes, shingles, split rail fencing, and fence

lath in Idaho has steadily declined. Even so, the sales value of cedar products

reached an all-time high in 2011. At nearly $53 million (table 10), 2011’s sales

were 42 percent higher than 2006, and 171 percent higher than 1995. Much of this

growth was in cedar fencing products (split cedar posts, rails, and fencing boards).

In 2011, at a time of depressed lumber prices and sluggish housing starts, demand

for wood products used in repair (shakes) and enhancing the value of existing

housing (cedar fencing) likely contributed to the record sales volume and value.
30 USDA Forest Service Resour. Bull. RMRS-RB-19. 2014

Idaho’s cedar products processors remain an important economic influence. With

only a fraction of the facilities that were operating in1979, sales values have risen

43 percent in constant dollars.

Log homes/house logs—The log home industry was impacted more severely than

any other primary sector. In recent years, log home sales have been primarily for

high end recreation properties and second homes, markets which were severely

impacted by the Great Recession (Morgan and others 2011.)

During 2011, there were 16 active log home facilities, ten fewer than in 2006.

Sales value (adjusted for inflation) fell from its 2006 high ($42 million) to just

$8 million, an 81 percent decrease, and the lowest since 1985 ($6.2 million).

Timber receipts for house logs fell from 17 MMBF in 2006 to 1.8 MMBF in 2011.

Production of house logs dropped from 3.2 million lineal feet to 547 thousand lineal feet. Many of the facilities that have survived the effects of the Great Recession

have done so by producing other products such as posts, poles, timbers, and kits

for small log buildings. A few facilities switched from processing logs and building homes to selling and assembling pre-manufactured log homes or kits from

other companies. While the log home industry accounts for only a small fraction

of Idaho’s primary wood products industry, these facilities are labor intensive and

add a great deal of value to the log with relatively low capital investment. Since the

industry can expand rather easily due to the low capital investment, recovery will

likely depend on the recreation and second home markets, which will probably

improve at a slower rate than other construction markets.

Plant Capacity

This section examines production capacity and estimates the timber-processing capacity and the proportion of that capacity utilized by Idaho’s primary forest products manufacturers in 2011. The analysis focuses on plants processing

sawtimber—sawmills, plywood and veneer plants, house log plants, and utility

pole plants. Capacity and utilization for the non-sawtimber processing manufacturers are discussed in less detail.

Mills were asked to specify production capacity-volume of finished product

the facility is capable of producing both per eight-hour shift and annually given

sufficient supplies of raw materials and firm market demand for products. Most

of the larger mills estimated annual capacity based on two 8- or 10-hour shifts

daily for 220 to 260 operating days per year. A few facilities estimated annual

capacity at 24 hours per day for 220 to 250 days. Smaller mills reported annual

capacity at one shift per day for 250 operating days or less per year.

Sawtimber processors reported production capacity in a variety of units.

Sawmills reported production capacity in thousand board feet (MBF), lumber

tally, while plywood capacity was reported in thousand square feet (MSF) on

a 3/8-inch basis. Utility pole production capacity was reported in numbers of

pieces of a given size, and house log capacity in lineal feet. To combine the

production capacity figures from different sectors and estimate the industry’s

total capacity to process sawtimber, production capacity was converted to units
USDA Forest Service Resour. Bull. RMRS-RB-19. 2014 31

of timber input (MMBF Scribner) on a mill-by-mill basis, using each facility’s

product recovery factor.

Timber processing capacity for sawmills was calculated by dividing lumber

production capacity by each mill’s lumber recovery. Plywood and veneer capacity figures were converted to MMBF Scribner by dividing production capacity

in square feet by each mill’s plywood recovery. Utility pole and house log capacities were adjusted to MMBF Scribner by multiplying capacity in the given

finished product unit by an average Scribner board foot volume per piece or per

lineal foot.

Estimates of mill capacities to process sawtimber and the utilization of total

capacity for 1979, 1985, 1990, 1995, 2001, and 2006 are based on complete forest products industry censuses of Idaho’s industry. For non-census years, mill

capacities and utilization were estimated using information from industry directories, trade associations, and industry consultants (Random Lengths 2001-2013;

WWPA 1964-2013; Keegan and others 2006; Spelter and others 2009; Ehinger

2012). Detailed capacity information is not available prior to the 1979 mill census. Idaho’s sawtimber processing capacity has declined by 38 percent since

1979, with most of the decline occurring after 1990 (fig. 9). In 2003, several

mill closures reduced capacity to less than 1,150 MMBF. The 2006 study found

that capacity to process timber actually increased from 2001. Idaho’s Sawtimber

processing capacity in 2011 was 1,287 MMBF down 4 percent (55 MMBF) from

2006 (1,342).

Sawtimber Capacity and Utilization by Sector

Both capacity to process sawtimber and capacity utilization declined slightly in

2011 from 2006. Idaho mills processed 914 MMBF Scribner of saw timber, utilizing 71 percent of the state’s capacity, the lowest level of utilization for any mill

census year (table 16). Utilization peaked in 1990 at 90 percent then dropped to

less than 84 percent. Since 2011, a few large mills have made significant investments in upgrading milling technologies and two mills were permanently closed

and dismantled. Sawtimber processing capacity was estimated to have increased

from 1,287 to 1,555 MMBF by the end of 2013.

Idaho’s overall capacity and utilization trend closely with the state’s sawmill

and plywood/veneer industries, which accounted for 97 percent of sawtimber processing capacity in 2011 and has been between 97 and 98 percent for each study

year except 1990 when it was 95 percent. The combined sawtimber capacity of

sawmills and plywood and veneer plants in 2011 was 1,256 MMBF, down from

1,304 MMBF in 2006 and 31 percent less than in 1979 (1,809 MMBF). Capacity

utilization for 2011 declined from 79 percent in 2006 to 72 percent.

In 2011, two utility pole plants that were operating but not captured in 2006

were added to the mill census. Adjustments in capacity and utilization were made

to the 2006 data. The annual timber processing capacity of Idaho’s utility pole and

house log sectors in 2011 was 31 MMBF, 19 percent (7 MMBF) lower than in

2006 (38 MMBF). In 2011, only 35 percent of the capacity was utilized compared

to 55 percent in 2006. This decrease can be attributed to the collapse of the log

home market in conjunction with the Great Recession.
32 USDA Forest Service Resour. Bull. RMRS-RB-19. 2014

Plant type

Capacity to process 

sawtimber

Volume

processed

Percentage of total 

capacity utilized

1979

Sawmills 1,809 1,437 79

Plywood/veneer plants 221 210 95

Utility pole and house log plants 33 20 61

Total 2,063 1,667 81

1985

Sawmills 1,666 1,229 74

Plywood/veneer plants 265 208 78

Utility pole and house log plants 34 15 44

Total 1,965 1,452 74

1990

Sawmills 1,459 1,316 90

Plywood/veneer plants 227 214 94

Utility pole and house log plants 31 14 45

Total 1,771 1,544 90

1995

Sawmills 1,318 1,097 83

Plywood/veneer plants 202 184 91

Utility pole and house log plants 41 20 49

Total 1,562 1,301 83

2001

Sawmills 1,140 948 83

Plywood/veneer plants 126 72 57

Utility pole and house log plants 28 16 57

Total 1,294 1,036 80

2006c

Sawmills and plywood/veneer plants 1,304 1,024 79

Plywood/veneer plants bb b

Utility pole and house log plants 38 21 55

Total 1,342 1,045 78

2011

Sawmills and plywood/veneer plants 1,256 903 72

Plywood/veneer plants bb b

Utility pole and house log plants 31 10 33

Total 1,287 914 71

a

MMBF = million board feet.

b

Plywood and veneer figures included with lumber to prevent disclosure of firm level data.

c

2006 numbers updated to reflect facilities not reported previously

Table 16--Estimated capacity to process sawtimber and capacity utilized for sawmills, plywood/veneer 

plants, utility pole and house log plants, in Idaho, selected years (sources: Keegan and others 1982, 1988, 

1992, 1997; Morgan and others 2004; Brandt and others 2012).

- - - - - - - - MMBF a , Scribner - - - - - - - - 
USDA Forest Service Resour. Bull. RMRS-RB-19. 2014 33

Markets for Primary Wood Products

This chapter examines the markets for Idaho’s primary forest products excluding mill residue and residue related products. Respondent mills summarized their

2011 shipments of finished wood products, providing information on volume, sales

value, and geographic destination (fig. 10). Mills usually distributed their products

through their own distribution channels or through independent wholesalers and

selling agents. Because of subsequent wholesaling transactions, the geographic

destination reported may not precisely reflect final delivery points of shipments.

All sales, including mill residue and residue related products totaled $1.4 billion

in 2011. Excluding mill residues and sales by the residue-utilizing sector, sales

from Idaho’s primary wood products industry totaled $612 million in 2011, down

36 percent from 2006, and 41 percent from 2001.

The major market areas for Idaho’s primary wood products remain the Rocky

Mountain, Far West, and the North Central states. Nearly 80 percent of Idaho’s

2011 primary wood product sales occurred in four market areas: the South, Far

West, Rocky Mountain, and North Central states (table 17). Between 2006 and

2011, inflation adjusted sales decreased to every region except the South and other

countries. Sales to the South increased by 13 percent from $71 million in 2006

to $80 million in 2011, while export sales to other countries increased 42 percent from $12 million to $17 million for the same period, the highest since 1990.

Decreases in sales values for all of the other regions ranged from 29 to 53 percent,

with the largest decrease to in-state sales.

0 

500 

1,000 

1,500 

2,000 

2,500 

1980 

    

1985 

    

1990 

    

1995 

 

2000 2005 

2010 

Million board feet, Scribner 

Capacity 

Processed 

Figure 9—Idaho sawtimber processing capacity and sawtimber processed, 1979 through 2013 (source: Keegan and others 

1997; Morgan and others 2004; Brandt and others 2012).
34 USDA Forest Service Resour. Bull. RMRS-RB-19. 2014

Figure 10—Shipment destinations for Idaho’s primary wood products. Regions are Idaho (1), Far West (2), Rocky Mountain 

(3), North-Central (4), South (5), and Northeast (6).
USDA Forest Service Resour. Bull. RMRS-RB-19. 2014 35 Product Idaho Rocky Mountain Far West North- Central Northeast South Other countries Unknown Total Lumber, timbers, other sawn products, plywood and veneerb 42,413 121,217 85,688 153,883 42,313 56,397 10,723 - 512,634 Posts, poles, and log furniture 11,413 1,357 19,643 200 150 - 5,866 - 38,629 House logs and log homes 2,408 2,478 777 1,179 573 120 422 - 7,957 Cedar products 6,163 10,282 9,672 2,354 1,120 23,299 16 - 52,906 2011 All products total 62,397 135,334 115,780 157,616 44,156 79,816 17,027 - 612,126 2006 Total 130,785 260,002 201,453 221,563 63,680 70,843 11,901 - 960,227 2001 Total 147,914 238,145 249,916 204,378 105,173 76,950 16,016 - 1,038,491 1995 Total 254,682 291,472 235,546 291,892 125,385 107,184 12,705 - 1,318,864 1990 Total 150,021 146,221 215,887 271,645 179,321 119,611 18,181 24,604 1,125,490 1985 Total 105,671 180,501 142,002 210,515 132,803 123,379 2,414 105,870 1,003,156 1979 Total 190,409 362,891 160,847 452,283 183,583 186,616 17,873 229,364 1,783,866 Lumber, timbers, other sawn products, plywood and veneerb 8 24 17 30 8 11 2 - 83.7 Posts, poles, and log furniture 30 4 51 1 c c 15 - 6.3 House logs and log homes 30 31 10 15 7 2 5 - 1.3 Cedar products 12 19 18 4 2 44 0 - 8.6 2011 All products total 10 22 19 26 7 13 3 - 100 2006 Total 14 27 21 23 7 7 1 - 100 2001 Total 14 23 24 20 10 7 2 0 100 1995 Total 19 22 18 22 10 8 1 0 100 1990 Total 13 13 19 24 16 11 2 2 100 1985 Total 11 18 14 21 13 12 0 11 100 1979 Total 11 20 9 25 10 10 1 13 100 aDoes not include mill residue sales or sales by the residue-utilizing sector. bLumber, timbers, and other sawn products includes plywood and veneer sales value to prevent disclosure of firm level data. cLess than .05 percent. Table 17--Destination and value of Idaho's 2011 primary wood products salesa. All values in 2011 dollars.(sources: Keegan and others 1982, 1988, 1992, 1997; Morgan and others 2004; Brandt and others 2012). - - - - - - - - - Sales value in thousand 2011 dollars- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Percentage of total sales value by product - - - - - - - -
36 USDA Forest Service Resour. Bull. RMRS-RB-19. 2014

Market Areas by Finished Product Type

Sales of Idaho’s plywood, veneer, lumber, timbers, and other sawn products

totaled just under $513 million and accounted for 84 percent of all wood products

sales in 2011 (table 17). Sales values decreased from 2006 levels to all regions except to other countries, which increased by 24 percent. Idaho was 8 percent of total

sales in 2011 and 13 percent of sales in 2006. Idaho, the Rocky Mountain States,

and the Far West combined were 49 percent of total sales in 2011, down from 62

percent in 2006. The North Central, Northeast, and the South were 49 percent of

2011 sales, up from 37 percent in 2006.

Cedar products (including cedar shakes, shingles, and split rail fencing) generated about $53 million and almost 9 percent of total sales in 2011. Sales increased

in all regions except the North Central, Northeast, and to other countries. Idaho

had 12 percent of the sales for cedar products in 2011 and 6 percent in 2006. The

Rocky Mountain States with Idaho and the Far West States accounted for 49 percent of cedar sales, up from 30 percent in 2006. Sales to the South were almost the

same as in 2006 at 44 percent. The North Central States had the biggest change

since 2006 dropping from 20 percent to only 4 percent of total sales. Virtually no

cedar products were exported to other countries.

Post, poles, and log furniture accounted for nearly $39 million and 6 percent of

total sales during 2011. Sales in-state were 29 percent of this sectors sales in 2011

and 24 percent in 2006. Idaho, the Rocky Mountain States, and the Far West States

comprised 84 percent of total sales, about equal to 2006 (83 percent). Sales in 2011

for this sector to other countries were 15 percent, up 5 percent from 2006. The

North Central States fell from 6 percent of total sales in 2006 to 1 percent in 2011.

Log home and house log manufacturers generated only $8 million and just 1

percent of total sales in 2011. Sales in this sector dropped in every region with the

smallest decrease in sales to other countries. Sales in-state were 30 percent of total

sales in this sector, up from 24 percent in 2006. Idaho, the other Rocky Mountain

States, the Far West, and the North Central States, were still the major markets

for these products, comprising 86 percent of total sales in 2011 and 84 percent in

2006. Sales to the Northeast, South, and other countries were the remaining 14

percent increasing from 5 percent in 2006. The Rocky Mountain States had the

largest decrease in the percentage of sales, dropping from 46 percent in 2006 to 31

percent in 2011.

Mill Residue: Types, Quality, and Use

Wood fiber residue from primary wood products manufacturers (mill residue)

is the major source of raw material for Idaho’s pulp and paper and board industry,

and an important source of fuel for all major sectors of the wood products industry.

If not used, wood residue can create difficult and expensive disposal problems.

Sawmills and plywood plants consistently generate over 90 percent of the mill

residue produced by Idaho’s forest products industry.
USDA Forest Service Resour. Bull. RMRS-RB-19. 2014 37

Sawmill and Veneer/Plywood Residue

Three general types of wood fiber residue are generated by Idaho’s sawmills

and plywood plants. The largest pieces are coarse or chippable residue consisting

of slabs, edgings, and trimmings from lumber manufacturing; log ends; pieces of

veneer not suitable for manufacturing plywood and plywood plant peeler cores

not sawn into lumber. Then there is fine residue consisting of planer shavings and

sawdust from sawmills, sander dust from plywood plants, and finally bark.

Respondents to the 2011 survey provided information on volume of residue

generated, sales value, and uses. Residue volumes were reported in bone-dry units

(BDU). A bone-dry unit equals 2,400 pounds of wood, oven-dry weight. In addition to residue quantity and disposition, statewide residue factors, which quantify

the number of bone dry units of residue generated per MBF of lumber produced,

were updated for Idaho sawmills based on the 2011 mill census (table 18).

Idaho sawmills and plywood plants generated an estimated 1,279 thousand

bone-dry units (MBDU) of manufacturing residue in 2011, 1,519 in 2006, and

1,751 MBDU in 2001 (table 19). The decrease in residue generated since 1990

resulted from a combination of decreasing volumes of timber being processed and

improving technology. With computer guided saws, thinner kerf saws, better planers, and better plywood lathes, technological improvements have led to lower residue volumes per unit of mill output through time (Keegan and others 2012).

Type of residue 1979 1985 1990 1995 2001 2006 2011

Coarse 0.47 0.53 0.43 0.45 0.42 0.39 0.38

Sawdust 0.25 0.21 0.18 0.18 0.17 0.15 0.13

Planner shavings 0.22 0.20 0.15 0.15 0.13 0.09 0.08

Bark 0.30 0.19 0.18 0.18 0.20 0.20 0.23

Total 1.24 1.13 0.94 0.96 0.92 0.83 0.82

Table 18 --Idaho sawmill residue factors, selected years (source: Keegan and others 1982, 1988, 1992, 1997; Morgan 

and others 2004; Brandt and others 2012).

- - - - - - - - - BDU per MBF lumber tally a - - - - - - - - - -

a

Bone-dry unit (BDU = 2,400 lb of oven-dry wood) of residue generated for every 1,000 board feet of lumber 

manufactured.

Used Unused Total Used Unused

 - - - - - - - - - Percent of total - - - - - - - - - 

Coarse 590,993 86 591,079 99.99 0.01 46

Fineb 330,026 48 330,074 99.99 0.01 26

Bark 357,954 199 358,153 99.94 0.06 28

Total 1,278,973 333 1,279,306 99.97 0.03 100

b

Fine residue includes sawdust and planer shavings.

a

Bone-dry unit (BDU = 2,400 lb of oven-dry wood) of residue generated for every 1,000 board feet of 

lumber manufactured.

Table 19 --Volume of wood residue generated by Idaho sawmills and plywood/veneer plants, 2011.

Residue

type

Wood residue Percentage of type Percentage

of total

- - - - - - - - - Bone-dry units a - - - - - - - - - 
38 USDA Forest Service Resour. Bull. RMRS-RB-19. 2014

The proportion of manufacturing residue that is utilized has increased steadily

since 1979, to the point that since 2001 virtually all (over 99 percent) of the residue

produced has been used. Largely because of pulp and paper industry expansion and

the opening of particleboard plants in the region, but also because of the increasing

use of wood residue as a fuel to dry lumber and veneer, to generate electricity, and

provide heat. In 1979, 89 percent of mill residue was used, increasing to 99 percent

by 1995, and nearly 100 percent since 2001 (table 20).

Coarse residue comprised the largest share of residues in 2011. Mills produced

591 MBDU, with nearly 100 percent utilized. Pulp and paper mills in Idaho and

other states received 572 MBDU, with 19 MBDU going to other uses, primarily

internal energy use. Less than 1 MBDU of coarse residue were unused in 2011.

Of the 330 MBDU of fine residue used, over 94 percent (312 MBDU) went to

pulp and paper mills or board plants for use as a raw material, 17 MBDU were

consumed as fuel, and a little over 1 MBDU went for other uses such as animal

bedding, mulch, and raw material for other products.

Use of bark has increased dramatically since 1979 when only 73 percent was

utilized. Nearly 100 percent of bark residue has been utilized since 2001. Of the

358 MBDU produced in 2011, 283 MBDU were consumed as fuel, 2 MBDU were

used for miscellaneous products including decorative bark, livestock bedding, and

mulch; less than 1 MBDU went unused. The amount of bark used as hog fuel declined from 2006 to 2011 while bark used for other products increased. Some of

the change in bark utilization is due to bark previously being reported as hog fuel

when it was used for decorative bark. Today, bark is usually more valuable for

other products such as landscaping material than hog fuel.
USDA Forest Service Resour. Bull. RMRS-RB-19. 2014 39

Coarse

1979 987 957 10 20 21 1,008

1985 976 930 28 18 14 990

1990 1001 988 0 13 5 1,006

1995 885 872 3 10 1 886

2001c 806 773 30 3 3 810

2006 735 639 86 10 b 735

2011 591 572 18 1 b 591

Sawdust

1979 399 197 164 38 58 457

1985 308 176 115 17 22 330

1990 365 175 167 23 13 378

1995 306 158 133 15 4 310

2001 237 80 148 9 - 237

2006 266 224 40 2 b 266

2011 212 206 5 1 b 212

Planer Shavings

1979 340 215 112 13 20 360

1985 288 128 155 5 17 305

1990 310 221 88 1 9 319

1995 250 130 113 7 8 258

2001 307 193 113 1 b 307

2006 161 125 34 2 b 161

2011 118 106 12 b b 118

Bark

1979 473 - 429 44 174 647

1985 282 - 263 19 73 355

1990 395 - 344 51 19 414

1995 358 - 343 15 10 368

2001 401 - 384 17 b 401

2006 357 - 333 24 b 357

2011 358 - 283 75d b 358

Total

1979 2,199 1,369 715 115 273 2,472

1985 1,854 1,234 561 59 126 1,980

1990 2,071 1,384 599 88 46 2,117

1995 1,799 1,160 592 47 23 1,822

2001c 1,751 1,046 675 30 3 1,755

2006 1,519 988 493 38 b 1,519

2011 1,279 884 318 77 b 1,279

c

numbers do not sum to total due to rounding.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Thousand Bone Dry Units a - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

a

Bone dry unit = 2,400 lb of ovendry wood.

b

Less than 1,000 bone dry units.

Table 20 --Production and disposition of residues by sawmills and plywood/veneer plants, various years (sources: 

Keegan and others 1997, Morgan and others 2004, Brandt and others 2012).

Type of Residue

Total 

Utilized

Reconstituted 

Products Hogfuel Other Uses Unused Total
40 USDA Forest Service Resour. Bull. RMRS-RB-19. 2014

Residues from Other Manufacturers

The manufacture of utility poles, house logs, cedar products, posts, small poles,

roundwood chips, and roundwood furniture generates several types of residue,

including bark, shavings and peelings, log ends, cull portions of logs, and slabs

from log home manufacturers. In 2011, about 94 MBDU of these residues were

produced, and just over 92 percent of this volume was used. Uses of these residues

include livestock bedding, garden mulch, firewood, or other fuel.

The Forest Products Industry and the Idaho Economy

This section discusses employment and worker earnings trends in Idaho’s primary and secondary forest products industry as well as the industry’s place in the

economy of Idaho and northern Idaho. This analysis focuses on 2011 and 2012,

the most recent years for which comprehensive state and county economic data are

available.

The primary forest products industry includes logging, processing logs into

lumber and other wood products, processing wood residues into outputs such

as paper or electricity, and private-sector timber management services. The secondary industry1, as defined in this report, includes the further processing of the

outputs from the primary industry manufacturers either from Idaho or elsewhere.

Portions of the secondary industry, such as truss and cut-stock manufacturers are

directly linked and highly integrated with Idaho’s primary industry. Other components such as mobile home manufacturers have limited links to and dependence on

Idaho’s primary industry.

Data from several sources were used to identify employment and workers earnings for Idaho’s primary and secondary forest products industry. Sources included the U.S. Department of Commerce, Regional Economic Information System

(REIS; U.S. Department of Commerce 2012), along with wage and salary data

from the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (U.S. Department

of Labor 2013), and the U.S. Census Bureau’s County Business Patterns (U.S.

Census Bureau 2013). Additional information from the Idaho Department of Labor

and from the periodic facilities censuses of the industry done by the Bureau of

Business and Economic Research as part of the FIDACS system (Keegan and others 1982, 1988, 1992, 1997; Morgan and others 2004; Brandt and others 2012).

Most of the primary and secondary industry is reported in four North American

Industrial Classification (NAICS) sectors, as defined by the U.S. Office of

Management and Budget (OMB 1998):

•	 113—forestry and logging;

•	 1153—support activities for forestry;

•	 321—wood products manufacturing;

•	 322—paper manufacturing.

1 Secondary industries include but are not limited to; wood treatment plants, cabinet shops, molding, doors and window manufacturers, remanufacturers, and pallet manufacturers.
USDA Forest Service Resour. Bull. RMRS-RB-19. 2014 41

These classifications were used to estimate total employment and workers’

earnings (workers earnings) in Idaho’s forest products industry. This grouping of

industry categories provides a conservative measure of the forest products or wood

and paper products industry. However, a number of activities are not included in

these classifications, including the hauling of logs by independent truckers; hauling of finished products by truck, rail or barge; and forest management activities

by government employees. Additionally, a portion of the secondary industry—the

manufacturing of wood furniture—is found in NAICS 337.

Based on these classifications, approximately 10,041 workers, earning over

$535 million (in 2011 dollars), were employed in the forest products industry in

Idaho in 2011. The primary sectors accounted for approximately 6,440 workers,

while the secondary sectors employed the remaining 3,600.

Trends in Forest Products Employment and Workers Earnings

This section focuses on trends in Idaho forest industry employment since 1990;

a discussion of longer term trends is in Morgan and others (2004), and Brandt and

others (2012).

The wood and paper products industry is a substantial and relatively high paying industry in Idaho. Even with the severe economic conditions of the last several

years, Idaho’s industry directly employed nearly 10,320 workers in 2012, an increase of 279 jobs from 2011. The operations of the industry and the multiplier effect of workers’spending and re-spending support jobs in other sectors of Idaho’s

economy (Cook and O’Laughlin, 2006). Of every 10 jobs in the forest products industry, spending supports seven jobs in other industries (Morgan and others 2014).

In addition to generating considerable employment in other sectors, wood and paper employees earned an average of $52,000 in workers earnings/labor income for

2012; this is substantially more than the state average of $36,900 per worker.

Since 1990, the number of workers in Idaho’s forest products industry peaked

at around 19,000 in 1994. By 2001, economic challenges associated with the

September 11th terrorist attacks, declining timber harvest volume, and the closure

of four large sawmills (Ehinger 2012) had caused employment to fall to 14,200

(figure 11). From 2002 to 2007, employment fluctuated between 14,000 and

14,500. The economic collapse associated with the Great Recession precipitated

the next large drop when employment fell from 14,300 in 2007 to 9,600 in 2010.

Employment has risen with the slow economic recovery since 2010, with 2013

employment estimated at 10,500.

Idaho’s primary and secondary industries reveal substantially different trends in

employment. Primary employment dropped from 15,122 in 1990 to just 9,300 in

2006 and to 6,440 in 2011. The major factors leading to the long-term decline in

the industry, especially primary industry employment, was the nearly 35 percent

decline in timber harvest between 1990 and 2006 driven by an 80 percent decline

in the Federal timber sale program in Idaho. The collapse of the U.S housing market impacted Idaho’s primary industry beginning in 2006 and contributed greatly

to drops in 2007 and 2008. Since the depth of the Great Recession in 2009, timber

harvests volume, lumber production, and employment have steadily but slowly

increased (fig. 12).
42 USDA Forest Service Resour. Bull. RMRS-RB-19. 2014

Figure 11—Idaho forest industry employment, 1990 through 2012 (source: U.S Department of Commerce, Bureau of 

Economic Analysis).

Figure 12—Idaho timber harvest, lumber production and industry employment, 1990-2012 (source: Morgan and others 2013).

4,000

8,000

12,000

16,000

20,000

24,000

0.40

0.80

1.20

1.60

2.00

2.40

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Billion board feet Scribmer/Lumber Tally 

Timber Harvest

Lumber Produced

Number of workers

Employment

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

14,000

16,000

18,000

20,000

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Forest Industry Employment (employees)

YEAR 
USDA Forest Service Resour. Bull. RMRS-RB-19. 2014 43

Both the primary and secondary industry benefited when generally strong economic performance globally, nationally, regionally, and in Idaho yielded strong

demand for wood products through much of the 1990s and in 2004 and 2005.

However, the secondary industry did not suffer from the sharply constricted raw

material supply that plagued the primary industry. Most of the secondary industry

uses wood products manufactured by the region’s primary industry, but it only

consumes a fraction of what the regional primary industry produces. Additionally,

the secondary industry can more easily acquire raw materials from elsewhere. It is,

therefore, not as susceptible to local timber availability as is the primary industry.

The increase in employment per unit volume of timber harvested in Idaho’s

primary industry, which occurred in the 1990s, did not continue into the 2000s.

Primary employment dropped by one-third between 2000 and the high market year

of 2005, while harvest volumes in Idaho declined by 6 percent over that period.

Much weaker markets led to further declines in employment from 2006 to 2008,

with primary employment falling to under 9,000 in 2008. The secondary industry

continued to increase employment after 2000 to approximately 6,000 workers in

2006 and 2007. With much poorer economic conditions in 2008, secondary employment declined to an estimated 5,400 workers.

Workers earnings is the compensation that is a return-to-work effort, including

labor earnings, employer-provided benefits, taxes paid to the government on behalf of employees, and the portion of entrepreneurial income which is a return to

labor (US DOC BEA 2013). All earnings values for this section have been adjusted

to 2011 constant dollars. Similar to employment, workers earnings increased in

the 1990s from $917 million to $1.0 billion in 1999 and with the accelerated loss

of primary forest industry workers, workers earnings have declined steadily since

1999, dropping dramatically in 2008 and 2009 in response to the Great Recession

and U.S. housing collapse (figure 13). Total workers earnings bottomed out in

2009 at $485 million and recovered to over $537 million in 2012, but still lag the

pre-recession level of $744 million in 2006. The annual earnings per worker in

the industry has been fairly stable over the last 25 years, averaging $54,028 with

the lowest year in 1991 at $47,011 and the highest year in 1999 at $59,873. At

$53,090, 2011 individual earnings were 98 percent of the 25-year average.

The forest products industry is substantially more important in the ten Idaho

counties north of the Salmon River (Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, Clearwater,

Idaho, Kootenai, Latah, Lewis, Nez Perce, and Shoshone counties) than in the

state as a whole. Measured by labor income, less than 20 percent of the state’s

economic activity is in northern Idaho; however, $420 million out of $743 million

in forest industry labor income (57 percent) is in these northern Idaho counties.

Furthermore, virtually all of the wood and paper industry in northern Idaho is part

of the primary forest products industry and directly engaged in managing forests,

harvesting timber, and processing timber products. Northern Idaho accounted for

nearly 90 percent of the harvest, received 95 percent of the harvest for processing,

and accounted for almost 97percent of the lumber production in 2011. For each

of the 953 MMBF harvested in northern Idaho the industry provided 18 jobs (10

forest product industry + 8 in support), $629 thousand in labor income, and $2.9

million in sales of goods and services (Morgan and others 2013).
44 USDA Forest Service Resour. Bull. RMRS-RB-19. 2014

Idaho’s Forest Industry Outlook 2014

Wood products markets in 2014 and 2015 are generally expected to improve, as

new home construction is expected to approach 1.1 million units in 2014 and 1.4

million in 2015. Coupled with considerable unutilized capacity to produce lumber

in North America and strong but erratic export markets, wood products prices are

expected to increase but remain volatile. Continued economic recovery, increased

housing starts, and rising product prices should benefit Idaho’s forest industry,

further stimulating production, sales, and employment for the state’s mills and

loggers. Many Idaho mills still have unutilized processing capacity, and could be

positioned to increase output as markets and other factors improve.

Factors constraining industry growth potential include the overall economy, the

housing market, a viable logging and hauling work force, and timber availability.

There is a strong sentiment in the industry that logging capacity is at critical levels and the logging and hauling contract force is in danger of collapse altogether

(Keough 2014). Additionally, with almost three-fourths of the timberlands in the

state under Federal ownership, availability of timber is a challenge to Idaho’sforest

Figure 13—Idaho’s forest industry adjusted labor income, 1990 through 2012 (source: U.S Department of Commerce, Bureau 

of Economic Analysis).

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Workers earnings (millions of 2011 dollars)

YEAR
USDA Forest Service Resour. Bull. RMRS-RB-19. 2014 45

industry. Without a reliable and affordable supply of timber, mills have difficulty

responding to increasing demand for wood products. Finding solutions to raw material availability and the log supply issue for primary wood products processors in

the next few years is key for the continued success of the forest industry in Idaho.

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the bases of race, color, national origin, age, disability, sex, gender 

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