Timber

The state’s timber harvests rebounded in 2010 after a record low the previous year, driven by a buying boom in China, according to an annual report by the Oregon Department of Forestry.

Harvests increased for every forest ownership class except for the Bureau of Land Management, accounting for a total of 3.2 billion board feet and a 17 percent increase over the 2009 numbers, state timber economists say.

In Columbia County, the amount of timber harvested rose at a rate less than the state average, going from 113 million board feet in 2009 to 123 million board feet in 2010.

But loggers say their situation remains far from optimal. After all, 2009 saw the worst logging output since the Great Depression.

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