Protecting the Northern Spotted Owl: What it Cost the Logging Industry

1. Protecting the Northern Spotted Owl: What it Cost the Logging Industry Flint Jackson

2. The Question • In 1996, legislation was enacted establishing protection areas for Northern Spotted Owls • The logging industry lost large areas of previously harvestable timber. • The question: what was the value of the timber lost? • Area was limited to Snohomish County for visibility

3. Data • Data was acquired from the following sources: • Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) • Washington State Department of Transportation (DOT) • Washington State Department of Revenue (DoR) • Types of Data • Protected Habitat Areas • Stand Types • Documented Logging Areas • Logging Areas No Longer in Use

4. Selecting Specific Stands • Only stands within habitat areas were selected

5. Separating Stand Types • Selected stands were differentiated by predominant species type

6. Total Area Lost • Statistics used to determine total affected area for each type

7. Total Affected Area • 12,265 acres of Douglas Fir • 25 acres of Red Alder • 21,459 acres of Western Hemlock

8. Value • Current the DoR: • Douglas Fir: $535 / MBF • Red Alder: $304 / MBF • Western Hemlock: $336 / MBF • The DNR and DoR use an average yield of 45 MBF (thousand board feet) per acre

9. Total Value • Douglas Fir: $294,997,034 • Red Alder: $347,155 • Western Hemlock: $323,984,080 • Total Value Lost: $619,328,268

10. Conclusion • Snohomish County had a relatively small area lost to commercial logging and still lost over $600 million worth of lumber • Other counties with larger areas lost even more • This helps explain the large number of jobs lost and the damage done to logging reliant communities