Housing Rebound Revives Timber Industry

A depleted housing supply coupled with resurgent consumer demand has brought economic vitality to US and Canadian forests. Thanks to a 40 percent rise in lumber prices, furloughed lumberjacks are being rehired and shuttered sawmills are coming back on line. “It’s a combination of new housing and repairs and remodels,” said Mark Pawlicki of Sierra Pacific Industries in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. California-based Sierra Pacific is a third-generation forest products company that is owned by the Emmerson Family, which ranked third on the 2012 Land Report 100 with holdings of 1.84 million acres. “The low interest rates for housing are helping. We are seeing an uptick in demand for windows, a lot of which go into remodels of homes,” said Pawlicki. Read more HERE.