Although the international market is hurting the state's timber industry, it is a necessary aspect of the business, said Gregory Cook, assistant state forester. It was only a little more than a year ago that the state's timber industry was setting new production records. But the shift from oak to other kinds of wood is just one factor affecting the state's timbering industry today, Dye said. A final factor is that one of the state industry's primary market has shifted in recent years, Dye said.

More than 100 forest managers, researchers, policymakers, foresters, forest owners, industry officials and others will meet in Duluth this week to see whether there are new ways to increase forest productivity -- to grow and cut more trees on the same amount of land. Forest Industry Seeks to Boost Productivity - Science - RedOrbit. Those issues and more have combined to cause plant closings, temporary shutdowns and continued worries across the industry. There's competition from around the...

Senator Brown said Judge Shane Marshall last year found logging at the 10,000 hectare Wielangta Forest, about 50km north of Hobart, was illegal because it threatened endangered species, such as the stag beetle, Tasmania's wedge tailed eagle and the swift parrot. Senator Brown said Judge Shane Marshall last year found logging at the 10,000 hectare Wielangta Forest, about 50km north of Hobart, was illegal because it threatened endangered species, such as the stag beetle, Tasmania's wedge...

The planer mills will continue to operate at those operations. Canfor has already cut production at its mills by 100 million board feet this year, also a reaction to poor markets, as well as transportation issues from the CN strike in February. The forest sector has been hit by a combination of poor lumber and OSB prices, as well as a high Canadian dollar and a 15-per-cent export tax. Canfor's sawmill in Mackenzie will be down for another two weeks starting March 26, and continue its...

Senator Brown said the federal Government was to be complimented for halting the importation of tropical rainforest timber because such logging threatened rare creatures like the orang-utan with extinction in Indonesia. Turnbull 'a hypocrite' on logging. A spokeswoman for Mr Turnbull said the 1997 regional forest agreement between the federal and Tasmanian governments continued to provided a sound basis for protection of endangered species and the environment. But Senator Brown said the...