Forest Economics
» Imports & Exports
Imports & Exports
Wood Imports and Environmental Ethics
We use a lot of wood in California--9 billion board feet annually, or enough to build about 600,000 standard-sized homes. But less and less of that wood comes from our own abundant forestlands.
We now import nearly 80 percent of the wood used in our state. According to the California State Board of Equalization, just 1.7 billion board feet was harvested in California in 2004, down from 4.67 billion in 1988. These figures show that harvesting on government-owned lands is down more than 90 percent over the last 15 years, while harvesting on privately-owned lands is down more than 40 percent during that same time period.
Although we are capable of providing for more of our own wood needs, Californians have chosen not to do so. By opposing forest management here, we are in fact choosing to import our wood from somewhere else. As a consequence, we now import more wood from other states and nations than we harvest from within our own borders.
Few would claim that this state of affairs is sound environmental policy. California has among the highest requirements in the world for private forestland management, according to a 2003 studyby professors at Cal Poly State University-San Luis Obispo. By importing so much wood, we are in fact exporting our environmental burdens to areas of the planet that have lesser standards of forest protection and sustainability.
Wouldn't it be better to grow more of our own wood, than to continue following policies that are creating greater overall environmental damage?
Sources of Information:
CDF, Fire and Resource Assessment Program
California State Board of Equalization, Timber Tax Division
Western Wood Products Association
Study by professors at Cal Poly University-San Luis Obispo
Supporting Graphs
U.S. Softwood Lumber Consumption, production, imports, and exports
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