Grays Harbor County became Washington State's top timber producer in 2010, accounting for 332.5 mmbf of 2.74 bbf total timber harvest, latest DNR report shows

Audrey Dixon

OLYMPIA, Washington , May 11, 2012 (press release) – About 2.74 billion board feet of timber was harvested in Washington State during 2010 (87 percent of which came from Western Washington). The latest Washington State Timber Harvest shows that with 332.5 million board feet harvested, Grays Harbor County moved into the number one position in timber production from the previous year (the chart with this story shows totals in thousands of board feet).

The 2010 data contrasts with 2009 totals, which showed the impact of a shrinking home building sector (the largest single market for the state’s softwoods). The 2009 harvest (2.22 billion board feet ) was about 500 million board feet smaller than the 2010 total. That year also saw Grays Harbor County finish as the third-highest producer (243.9 million board feet), behind Pacific (297.2 million board feet) and Lewis (269.4 million) counties.

In 2010, all but seven counties reported timber harvests. The report is based on data collected by the Washington Department of Revenue — tribal timber totals were not included because those harvests are not subject to the Forest Excise Tax. In addition to providing local jobs, timber harvests produce income for counties through taxes on the value of the harvested timber. Many counties also receive a share of the revenue DNR produces from timber and other product sales on state trust lands.

The report also lists harvest volumes by tree species and land ownership type.

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