Colin B. Sorenson

Impact of the Great Recession and Housing Collapse on the Forest Products Industry in the Western United States

The first decade of the Twenty-first Century proved tumultuous for the Wests A strong economy, low interest rates, easy access to credit, and real estate speculation fostered more than two million U.S. housing starts in 2005 and record lumber consumption from 2003 to 2005. With the decline in U.S. housing beginning in 2006, the 2008 global financial crisis, an over 50-year record low 554,000 housing starts in 2009, wood product prices and production fell dramatically. In 2009 and 2010, virtually every major western mill suffered curtailments and 30 large mills closed permanently. Sales value of wood and paper products in the West dropped from

New Mexico's forest resources, 2008-2012

49 billion in 2005 to

On-Site Energy Consumption at Softwood Sawmills in Montana

34 billion in 2009. Employment declined by 71,000 workers and lumber production fell by almost 50 percent from 2005 to 2009. Capacity utilization at sawmills and other timber-using facilities in the West fell from over 80 percent in 2005 to just over 50 percent in 2009 and 2010. With the exception of exports and some paper markets, U.S. wood ...

On-site energy consumption and selected emissions at softwood sawmills in the southwestern United States

This report presents a summary of the most recent inventory of New Mexico’s forests based on field data collected between 2008 and 2012. The report includes descriptive highlights and tables of area, numbers of trees, biomass, volume, growth, mortality, and removals. Most sections and tables are organized by forest type or forest type group, species group, diameter class, or owner group. The report also describes the inventory’s design, inventory terminology, and data reliability. Results show that New Mexico’s forest land covers 24.8 million acres. Forty-four percent (10.8 million acres) of this forest land is privately owned, and another 31 percent (7.8 million acres) is administered by the USDA Forest Service. The State’s most abundant forest type is pinyon/juniper woodland, which covers more than 10 million acres. Pinyon/juniper woodlands, combined with pure juniper woodland, cover a total of 13.6 million acres, or more than half of New Mexico’s forest land area. Gambel oak is the most abundant tree species by number of trees, and ponderosa pine is the most abundant by volume or biomass. New Mexico’s forests contain 17.5 billion cubic feet of net volume in trees 5.0 inches diameter and larger. Gross growth of all live trees 5.0 inches diameter and larger averaged 211.5 million cubic feet per year. Average annual mortality totaled 165.1 million cubic feet per year, and net growth was 46.4 million cubic feet per year, or 0.26 percent of the State’s total wood volume.

A COMPARATIVE FINANCIAL ANALYSIS OF FAST PYROLYSIS PLANTS IN SOUTHWEST OREGON

Abstract Total on-site energy requirements for wood product manufacturing are generally not well understood or publicly available, particularly at subregional scales, such as the state level. This article uses a mail survey of softwood sawmills in Montana to develop a profile of all on-site energy consumption. Energy use is delineated by fuel type on a production basis for both renewable and nonrenewable sources for production year 2009. Survey respondents represented 92 percent of total Montana softwood lumber production of 449 million board feet, which is 4 percent of western US production and 2 percent of national production. Total annual on-site sawmill energy required was 1.6 trillion British thermal units. Seventy-seven percent was derived from wood and bark, primarily for process heat and steam for lumber drying; 16 percent was from electricity; 5 percent was from diesel used for on-site rolling stock; and the remainder was from gasoline, propane, and natural gas. Energy produced from renewable sou...

Employment and Wage Impacts of Timber Harvesting and Processing in the United States

Abstract Presently there is a lack of information describing US southwestern energy consumption and emissions generated from the sawmilling industry. This article uses a mail survey of softwood sawmills in the states of Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico to develop a profile of on-site energy consumption and selected emissions for the industry. Energy consumption is categorized by fuel type on a production basis for both renewable and nonrenewable sources for production year 2012. Selected emissions from on-site energy consumption were also estimated for respondent sawmills. Survey respondents represented 35 percent of total softwood lumber production of 169.2 million board feet. Total annual on-site sawmill energy required was 64.8 billion British thermal units. Sixty-one percent was derived from diesel fuel, primarily for on-site rolling stock; 35 percent was from electricity; 3 percent was from gasoline used for on-site rolling stock; and the remainder was from propane and wood. Energy produced from non...