EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

Not Out Of The Woods Yet

Sawmill, British Columbia, Canada

Explanation:  Here is a scene that some worried, in the 1980s and 1990s, would become an endangered species:  an industrial lumber mill & sawmill in British Columbia (B.C.), western Canada.  

That time period saw the rise of concerns for old-growth forest ecosystems in western North America, including Canada and the United States, and for curtailing what was viewed as uncontrolled harvest of timber from public and private lands alike.  It was an era of what was perhaps unprecedented constraints on the timber industry, and a rethinking of the role of mature forests on public lands as offering more than just timber.  

Worries arose from the timber industry and, understandably, from timber-dependent small communities and towns scattered through the western provinces and states, that the timber market was failing ... and that scenes, as we see in this week's image, of bustling timber mills will become an endangered species.

Well, times change.  Often, unexpectedly so.

On into the 2000's, 2010s, and now 2020s, and prices of lumber have soared, from a host of reasons, both economic and ecological ... including mountain pine beetle infestations of conifer forests, especially in southern B.C. Canada.  And recent constraints on supply chain transport of lumber goods.  And reduced forest land area available for sustained timber harvest.  And major wildfires occurring increasingly in harvestable forests.  And climate change causing major floods in B.C.  And, oh yeah, the coronavirus pandemic that caused border closures between the two countries and all but shut down demand for timber wood products.  And other factors, as well, such as tariffs.

Enter 2022, and the pent-up demand for housing and lumber is soaring, and the outlook for the timber industry is much better. 

But the industry -- and the future of old-growth forest ecosystems -- are not out of the woods, yet, so to speak.  Pressure remains to access mature and old-growth forests on public lands to rejuvenate or sustain the industry.  And those pesky wildfires, pine beetles, and other manifestations of climate change impacts on forest conditions are not just going away.

Whether scenes such as this week's image of the bustling lumber mill from 2000 become increasingly common as more old forests are opened to harvest, or will become increasingly scarce as timber on available harvestable land becomes taken under the current high demands, is yet to be seen.

Not ... out ... of the woods ... yet.