Forests cover over half of Washington’s land area. Of the 23 million acres of forestland in the Evergreen State, 16.2 million acres are classified as commercial forests. All of Washington’s forestlands contribute to the state; whether the forest is managed primarily to provide wood products, recreational opportunities, or wildlife habitat depends essentially on who owns it. Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of all forestland in Washington are owned or managed by governments—federal, state, local, and tribal. The U.S. Forest Service is by far the largest government manager in Washington State, overseeing eight national forests in Washington State covering 9.2 million acres of forestland. Their management emphasis has changed in recent years from multiple use including commercial timber harvests to primarily wilderness preservation, protection of scenic areas, provision of wildlife habitat, and creation of recreational opportunities. Almost no timber is available for commercial harvest in the national forests in Washington. The State of Washington Department of Natural Resources is the second largest government manager, overseeing 2.1 million acres of forested trust lands throughout the state.

Thirty-six percent of Washington’s forests are privately owned. More than half of this private forestland is managed by forest products industry companies. These forestlands are called "managed" or "working" forests and primarily produce timber for multiple wood products. The remainder of Washington’s forests are owned by non-industrial entities including small family tree farmers or private individuals.

Besides ownership, there are several distinctive aspects of forestry. Like other natural resources—a forest is essentially immobile. The fixity of location differs little from other commodities, except that timber is sold as it stands in the forest (termed "stumpage").

As a renewable resource, the production of timber requires far longer time periods than most productive processes. Washington boasts some of the most productive forests in the world, with harvests occurring within every 40 to 60 years. Given such an extensive planning schedule, forest management is a critical component.

One of forestry’s most important characteristics is that demand for various forest products is derived from the demand for other goods. Thus, the derived demand for timber is heavily dependent upon the markets for forest product commodities like lumber, plywood, paper, Christmas trees, fuelwood, and other special forest products (e.g., mushrooms, nuts and berries, cones, ornamental plants).

This industry report uses industry definitions and concepts that underlie the U.S. government's Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system. In the SIC system, forestry is a major industry, one of five such industries that form the agriculture, forestry, and fishing sector. This forestry industry (SIC 08) includes timber operations and related activities; according to the Standard Industrial Classification, there are three separate forestry subsectors. Each of the roughly 3,500 private forestry establishments operating in the United States in 1997 was placed in one of these three industry subsectors:

• Timber tracts (SIC 081)—those engaged in the operation of timber tracts, tree farms, or Christmas tree farms for the purpose of selling standing timber;

• Forest nurseries and gathering of forest products (SIC 083)—those engaged in growing trees for the purpose of reforestation or in gathering of forest products, including gums, barks, seeds, berries, mushrooms, ferns, and plants; and

• Forestry services (SIC 085)—those engaged in performing services related to timber production, wood technology, forestry economics and marketing, and other forestry services, not elsewhere classified, such as cruising timber, firefighting, pest control, and reforestation.

The two largest components are forestry services and timber tracts. Forestry services comprise 56 percent of the total number of establishments in the nation, while timber tracts’ share of the total establishments is 38 percent. The remaining 6 percent of establishments are classified as forest nurseries and gathering of forest products.

Unlike a number of other industries, forestry has a significant public component. Of the 737 million acres of forestlands in the United States, more than one-fourth is National Forest System land. Washington State, like several other western states, has a majority of its forestlands under government management. Government management of forestlands has significant implications for industry employment and earnings.

The forestry industry in Washington is the second largest in the nation behind Oregon, with about 10 percent of the nation’s total private establishments and employment. Overall growth has been modest for the private forestry sector. Between 1981 and 1998, total private forestry employment within Washington increased by only 2.6 percent. The entire growth in the state’s forestry sector has been in timber tracts and forest nurseries. Employment in the largest subsector--forestry services--has declined since 1981. Since 1992, however, employment has been relatively stable in forestry services.

Public sector employment in forestry is difficult to estimate. Public management of forests is placed within the category of public administration of land, mineral, wildlife, and forest conservation (SIC 9512). In 1998, combined public entities (local, state, and federal governments) employed nearly 6,800 workers with earnings of $248.5 million. A significant majority of these employees are in forest management.

Figure 1

Number of Forestry Establishments in Washington, 1981-1998
Source: Washington Employment Security Department

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Figure 2

Private Forestry Employment in Washington, 1981-1998
Source: Washington Employment Security Department

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Employment in forestry has been largely supported by the harvest of timber. The overall decline in the harvest of timber, however, does not explain the stability of forestry employment. In 1998, the total statewide timber harvest was estimated at 4.0 billion board feet; the lowest harvest in forty years and more than 25 percent below its twenty-year average. The reasons behind overall stability in forestry employment are: (1) stability in private timber harvest during the last two decades; (2) substantial changes in forestry management practices in recent years; and (3) changing mix of products harvested from the forest. With respect to the latter, special forest products (e.g., berries, plants, herbs, roots, cones, bark, boughs, flowers, mushrooms) and Christmas trees have increased in economic importance during the last decade. For example, Washington Christmas tree growers harvested 4.0 million trees in 1998, valued at $53 million. Washington's Christmas tree industry is ranked third in the nation behind Oregon and North Carolina.  

Figure 3

Washington Timber Harvest, 1950-1998
Source: Washington Department of Natural Resources

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Notes: Private ownership includes forestry industry and non-industry private; public ownership includes state, federal (e.g., national forest, other federal), other non-federal, and Native American (Bureau of Indian Affairs). 

Figure 4

1997 Washington Timber Harvest by Ownership Class
Source: Washington Department of Natural Resources

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Figure 5

1981 Washington Timber Harvest by Ownership Class
Source: Washington Department of Natural Resources

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The forestry industry in Washington is entirely composed of small establishments with 100 employees or less. On average, each forestry establishment employed about 5 workers in 1998, compared with the statewide average of 13 employees per establishment.

Figure 6

Size of Establishments of Washington Forestry Industry, 1998
Source: Washington Employment Security Department

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Note: There are no forestry establishments with 100 or more employees.

The labor force in the forestry sector is dominated by agricultural, forestry, fishing and related workers. Common forestry occupations within this group are forest and conservation workers, nursery workers, loggers and other timber cutting workers, and log graders and scalers.

Table 1

Occupational Profile of Forestry Workers in Washington, 1998 and 2008
Source: Washington Employment Security Department

The average forestry worker earned annual wages worth $20,245 in 1998; substantially less than the statewide nonfarm worker and the worker in value-added forest products (lumber and wood products and pulp and paper products). More than half of all forestry workers earned $12 per hour or less in 1997, compared with two-fifths of all nonfarm workers in the state and less than one-third of all value-added forest products workers (i.e., lumber and wood products and pulp and paper workers).

Table 2

Real Average Wages for Washington ForestryWorkers, 1981-1998
(1998 dollars)
Sources: Washington Employment Security Department,
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis

Figure 7

Average Hourly Wages for Washington Forestry Workers, 1997
Source: Washington Employment Security Department

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Outlook for Forestry in Washington

Washington Forestry Wage & Salary Employment Forecast, 2000-2020
Sources: Washington Office of Financial Management, Washington Employment Security Department

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