The volume of timber cut from Northwest national forests is increasing due to collaborative planning and growing state involvement in logging projects, according to an Oregon forest supervisor. For example, the Willamette National Forest - Oregon`s foremost timber producer and a regular top contender nationally - aims to generate 100 million board-feet in 2020, up from about 75 million to 80 million board-feet in 2018, said Tracy Beck, the forest`s supervisor.

Last year, 66 million board-feet were harvested from the forest, according to federal statistics. Contrary to the common belief that federal logging projects are being tied up in litigation, lawsuits have only been a filed against a handful of the hundreds of projects in the area, Beck said at a recent timber industry tour in Corvallis, Ore. "We`re winning most of those cases," he said. "I really feel like collaboration has helped keep us out of court."

Collaboratives are groups, such as nonprofits, that help steer the federal government`s thinking on logging and thinning projects and build agreement among the timber industry, environmental groups and others. Another recent tool that`s expected to increase timber volume from national forests is the "good neighbor" authority granted by Congress in 2014 that allows state governments to carry out projects on federal land.


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