The Rise And Fall Of The Pacific Northwest Log Export Market

Considers problems arising from increased log exports from the Pacific Northwest to Japan, including increased lumber prices and unemployment. Factual record of the hearing is intended to assist State Dept in negotiating reductions of the log trade with Japan. Continuation of hearing examining need to increase the harvesting of trees on Federal lands. Focuses on requests to increase the allowable cut for domestic use and exports to Japan.

Timber markets in the U.S. are areas where timber prices tend to be uniform because of the continuous interactions of buyers and sellers. These markets are highly competitive, volatile, and change relentlessly. This report looks at how market interactions in the Pacific Northwest have responded to changes in underlying determinants of market behavior and government actions that have influenced supply or demand. Several messages emerge from timber markets about price reporting and changing definitions of price, long-term price trends, timber as an investment, impacts of market intervention, relations among different markets, and implications for future stewardship. Charts, tables and graphs.

This is the first book to center labor unions as actors in American environmental policy.