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

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

Data Data was acquired from the following sources: Types of Data 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

Selecting Specific Stands Only stands within habitat areas were selected

Separating Stand Types Selected stands were differentiated by predominant species type

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

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

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

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

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