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Betsy Bates

Timber Prices Remain Flat Despite Upward Trajectory Of Housing Starts

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Housing starts are finally approaching 1.3 million starts per year, a level that traditionally has led to upward pressure on sawtimber stumpage prices. However, there are factors at work that could undermine this pressure on prices, the head of one of the nation’s largest forest management firms reports.

Marshall Thomas, president of F&W Forestry Services, Inc., reports in his firm’s spring newsletter that while housing starts are approaching this milestone level, there is likely to be a delay in a corresponding increase in timber prices.

“It may be traditional wisdom doesn’t apply for two reasons,” Thomas writes. “First, we have too much standing inventory of pine sawtimber, and second, the houses being built today may not use the same amount of lumber that was used prior to the recent housing crisis.”

TO SEE THE FULL ARTICLE IN THE SPRING 2017 F&W FORESTRY REPORT, SUBSCRIBE NOW

Betsy Bates

Trump Sets Aggressive Agenda

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While it may be some time before there are any major changes in forest policy under President Trump, it is very clear that the new administration is taking a sharply different approach on issues than the previous one.

Already President Trump and his new EPA Administrator, Scott Pruitt, have begun the process of rolling back the Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule and the Clean Power Plan (CPP) program, both major environmental policy initiatives of the Obama administration that have a huge impact on forestry.

Trump has also tapped former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue to lead the Department of Agriculture. Perdue, a successful agribusiness man, will have oversight of the vast government agency that sets policy on issues ranging from agriculture, forestry, and natural resources to nutrition and rural development. He will also serve as the key liaison for the White House on the reauthorization of the Farm Bill by Congress in 2018.

TO SEE THE FULL ARTICLE IN THE SPRING 2017 F&W FORESTRY REPORT, SUBSCRIBE NOW

Betsy Bates

Reforestation Activity Mixed in 2016-17 Planting Season, Expected To Rise In Future Years

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The latest survey of F&W managers on reforestation activity in their areas during the recent 2016-17 tree planting season was mixed, with reports of both increased and decreased planting and the status quo. But almost all managers expect an uptick in reforestation in the future.

Managers who reported increased reforestation activity said it was due primarily to more landowners conducting final harvests.  But those who reported a decrease in reforestation activity indicated that some landowners are still waiting for better timber prices before harvesting. Other managers said that weather, the availability of tree planting contractors, and/or a delay in the completion of harvests led to less tree planting this season.

But most managers believe reforestation will increase in the future due to increased demand for wood. The most recent tree planting statistics published by the U.S. Forest Service, based on the 2014-15 planting season, shows reforestation nationwide continuing to rise at a steady pace, increasing 10 percent overall since the 2011-12 season when the USFS resumed its estimation of tree planting.

TO SEE THE FULL ARTICLE IN THE SPRING 2017 F&W FORESTRY REPORT, SUBSCRIBE NOW