When the much-publicized bottom fell out of the Asian economy a few years back, several worldwide industries connected to those markets felt more than a pinch.
The forest products export trade from the U.S. West Coast to international markets like Japan, a traditionally heavy user of wood products (U.S. export trade went from $4.8 billion in 1996 to $2.8 billion in 1998), was a good example of this downturn, as Japanese housing starts hit the skids making the recovery a slow process.
Other debilitating factors have seen the trade struggling to pick itself up from a severe low-point, like residual negative effects from timber harvest restrictions implemented in 1990, increasing international competition, and the Canada-U.S. Softwood Lumber Agreement limiting the amount of duty-free lumber Canada can export to the U.S.
However, the U.S. forest products industry won a domestic battle with the recent ruling from the Environmental Protection Agency that exempts forestry operations from a rule, still pending, which will govern the reduction of water pollution on private land.
Marine Digest found a smattering of cautiously optimistic industry voices along the West Coast, including those that have come to rely on market diversification to assist in bolstering businesses once tied almost exclusively to the forest product trade.
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