Abstract:
Historically the national market for forest products has greatly
influenced the economies of Oregon and its regions because of the high
dependence of these economies on the forest products industry. With the
possibility of decreased timber production in the area and the high
probability of increasing demand for forest products the economies of
Oregon and its regions may in the future be limited by timber harvest
rather than the national market. In this case a change in the amount of
timber harvested in a region is the direct cause of a change in forest
products industry production and employment, resulting in a corresponding
change to the entire regional economy, This study identifies the
importance of the forest products industry to the regional economies of
Oregon in recent years. Relationships between regional timber harvest
and forest products industry employment are identified, which are of some
use in predicting employment changes due to changes in timber harvest,
when harvest rather than the market is limiting industry production.
Finally, employment impact multipliers are derived which can be used to
obtain rough estimates of changes in total regional employment in
response to changes in basic forest products industry employment.
