This might be of interest to you. The Potlatch folks don't waste a move.
SMALLWOOD UTILIZATION NEWS
___________________________
Forestry Company Plans New Sawmill In Boardman
By Dan Richardson, 3-01-06 New West Enviroment
This is a rare bit of news: A forestry company is planning to build a new
$8-million sawmill in Eastern Oregon. Washington-based Potlach Corp. owns
17,000 acres of fast-growing poplars near Boardman (you pass the forest if
youre driving near there on Interstate 84), trees it began planting in 1992.
Potlatch says their idea is to plant enough poplars to harvest crops of 10- to
12-year-old trees, producing about 6,000 log trucks in lumber products
annually. The new sawmill, slated to begin operating in December, will employ
about 55 people. The poplar hybrids, also called cottonwoods, are fed and
watered with a computerized drip irrigation system.
Two other facts about Potlatchs Boardman operation. First, it won
certification as a sustainable forest from the Forest Stewardship Council, a
global coordinating group that gives industry operations an environmental seal
of approval. Second, the Oregon Economic & Community Development Department
will ask Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski to sign off on a $150,000 forgivable
loan‿ for the sawmill project.
This has one commentors knickers in a bind. Blogger Rogue Pundit asks:
"So, Oregon is supposed to consider paying Potlatch $8.82 per acre so that the
company will harvest its trees? And if we don't provide Potlatch that windfall,
will the company just write-off its investment in the plantation, lay off the
employees, etc.? Is this what folks consider being business-friendly?"
These are worthwhile questions for the state. Why are we paying people to
conduct business? Isnt this, you know, what theyre in business for to make,
market and profit?
One argument for supporting a forestry corporation, though, might be this:
Imagine the hundreds or thousands of dollars per acre the U.S. Forest Service
spends on road-building and otherwise enabling private logging. If Oregon can
develop an alternative model of profitable, sustainable forestry a model that
would decrease logging on public lands, and so decrease public spending on
logging then eight or nine bucks an acre strikes me as a bargain.
Of course, thats a big if.‿
Meanwhile, turning arid Eastern Oregon acreage into a sustainable forest soundslike an excellent project for all concerned. Should it help provide a way torestore and protect older, natural forests in the Cascades and Blues, then it
would be doubly worth rooting for.
