In recent years, the forest products industry of the U.S. experienced a downturn in output to levels not seen in decades and employment losses in the hundreds of thousands — for instance, a number far greater than witnessed in the Nation's automotive industry. The extent of the forest industry downturn varies by sector, impacted by structural changes in the overall economy coupled with substantial impacts from the Great Recession. Globalization of manufacturing and expanded use of electronic communication media contributed to a decline in U.S. pulp, paper, and paperboard output since the late 1990s, while the collapse of housing construction since 2006 and off-shoring of furniture production contributed to declines in U.S. wood product output. The paper points to structural changes that may be difficult to reverse, but also points to some potential prospects for growth in the future such as increased secondary product manufacturing and wood energy. This paper serves as an introduction to the extent of the downturn with a particular focus on trends in forest sector economic production and employment across the U.S. Because the nation's forest industry varies by region due to differences in forest resources and forest industries, additional regional examinations of this downturn (same issue) will highlight variations in the regional industrial response to the “Great Recession.”

The forest industry within the northern region of the U.S. has declined notably in employment, mill numbers, wood consumption, and forest harvests since 2000...a downturn exacerbated by the recession of 2007 to 2009. Longer term industrial decline (since 2000) has been evidenced by reductions in secondary products (e.g., furniture) and print paper manufacturing which can be attributed, respectively, to the lack of global competitiveness due to high U.S. wages and ascent of electronic media. In contrast, shorter term (since 2008), yet sharper declines occurred in industries such as composite panel production that serve the housing industry. Despite a decade of decline, there are future opportunities for this region's forest industry. The region's forests are predominantly within private ownership and represent tremendous volumes of some of the world's most valuable sawtimber (e.g., select hardwoods). Coupled with this natural resource is a present, but underutilized industry with excess capacity and a skilled work force. As evidenced by recent trends in positive trade balances, the decline of the northern region's forest industry may be mitigated with a focus on new markets (e.g., wood energy) and balancing increased export of unfinished products (e.g., logs) with increased use of the region's skilled secondary product workforce (e.g., increasing international competiveness of U.S. production).

The economic recession affected southern forests and related industries substantially, particularly those sectors most closely related to home construction. Between 2005 and 2009, for example, the three primary forestry sectors wood manufacturing, paper manufacturing, and forestry and logging lost more than 110,000 jobs in the southern United States. This article assesses the effects of the recession on the southern U.S. by reviewing existing data related to economic and resource impacts, including employment, timber product output, production facilities, state economies, exports, and forest area and management activities. While all sectors were affected, wood products and furniture manufacturing experienced the greatest change. As a result of the downturn, the South's forest sector's direct contribution to the regional economies decreased by 24 percent between 2004 and 2009. Some developments such as rebounding paper consumption, expanding export markets, and bioenergy, however, offer potential growth opportunities for the future.

The first decade of the Twenty-first Century proved tumultuous for the West's A strong economy, low interest rates, easy access to credit, and real estate speculation fostered more than two million U.S. housing starts in 2005 and record lumber consumption from 2003 to 2005. With the decline in U.S. housing beginning in 2006, the 2008 global financial crisis, an over 50-year record low 554,000 housing starts in 2009, wood product prices and production fell dramatically. In 2009 and 2010, virtually every major western mill suffered curtailments and 30 large mills closed permanently. Sales value of wood and paper products in the West dropped from $49 billion in 2005 to $34 billion in 2009. Employment declined by 71,000 workers and lumber production fell by almost 50 percent from 2005 to 2009. Capacity utilization at sawmills and other timber-using facilities in the West fell from over 80 percent in 2005 to just over 50 percent in 2009 and 2010. With the exception of exports and some paper markets, U.S. wood products markets have improved little since the recession officially ended in 2009. Modest improvements are expected in domestic markets in the short term but substantial improvements are unlikely until 2014 or later, as U.S. home building recovers and global demand increases. Much of the West retains the bulk of its pre-recession (2006) capacity and mills could respond quickly to increased demand spurred by economic recovery.

The Merriam-Webster's dictionary defines innovation as (1) the introduction of something new or (2) a new idea, method, or device. Many empirical studies suggest that innovation is an important driver for developing or maintaining firm competitiveness. Innovation has been linked to improving products, production processes, supply chain efficiencies, market research, customer retention, business systems, relationships with exchange partners, profitability, and competitiveness. But how does it work? How can innovation be measured? In this study, we examined innovation in the US furniture industry. First, we deconstructed innovation into three broad categories: product, production processes, and company culture. Second, we examined relationships between the innovation subcomponents and the internal/external demographic characteristics of company size, company location population, age of employees, and education level of employees. Results show that although we were able to develop the three innovation constructs, only 25 percent of their hypothesized relationships to demographic factors followed hypothesized patterns of significance or directionality.

The Chinese market represents good opportunities for those interested in exporting building materials, including wood products. One growing building material sector is preservative-treated wood. Fewer than 70 treatment facilities operated in China in 2002 compared with more than 600 currently operating. Sizable quantities of treated product are also imported. China's status as a net wood importer creates sizable opportunities for importers seeking to expand into this market. This article reviews the current status of the treating industry in China, identifies issues related to quality control and the implementation of standards, and outlines critical needs for the continued growth and success of the industry.

A mail survey was conducted in the fall of 2010 to investigate the impacts of the 2008 economic downturn on sawmill production, employment, and marketing in the Appalachian region. The mail survey was sent to 776 hardwood sawmills in the region and 58 valid responses were used in the study. It was determined that the average number of employees per mill had decreased from 42 to 30, a reduction of 29 percent during the period. At the same time, annual operating hours decreased 9 percent and weekly lumber production fell by 26 percent. Additional information collected with the survey indicated that the average log inventory reported by the responding mills was sufficient to allow production for 6 weeks. Weekly chip and sawdust production was reported as 139 and 81 tons, respectively. Sixty-seven percent of the reporting mills indicated they had changed their marketing strategies as a result of the downturn. Forty-six percent of the respondents reported they were exporting production to overseas markets.

As hardwood trees grow and develop, surface defects such as limb stubs and wounds are overgrown and encapsulated into the tree. Evidence of these defects can remain on the tree's surface for decades and in many instances for the life of the tree. The location and severity of internal defects dictate the quality and value of products that can be obtained from logs. Thus, log surface defect indicators such as log diameter at defect and surface indicator width, length, and rise provide a viable means of estimating the location and severity of internal defects. Evaluation of white oak (Quercus alba) log defects revealed that good correlations exist between external indicators and internal features for most severe defect types. Weaker correlations were observed with less severe defect types, such as bark distortions and adventitious knots.

Removing submerchantable size trees and forest residues as well as sawlogs is preferred in fuel reduction thinning because it improves treatment effectiveness and avoids slash burning. Fuel reduction thinning was investigated to describe integrated harvesting machine processes and productivity and to characterize stump-to-truck costs for sawlogs and biomass for energy production. This system was studied in mixed-conifer forest on land owned by the US Forest Service in northern California and southern Oregon. Detailed time-study methods were paired with standard machine rate calculation methods to evaluate productivity and costs for the system. Sensitivity analysis and a standardized comparison were performed to evaluate costs and productivity under varying operation parameters. Treatment costs (stump-to-truck; without mobilization, overhead, or profit) were US$0.42/ft³ for sawlogs and US$52.41 per bone dry ton (BDT) for biomass. Standardized unit production costs for sawlog skidding varied little, but the smaller skidder was clearly preferable for biomass tree skidding when external skidding distances exceeded 200 feet. The grinder had the highest hourly cost of any machine in the system and its unit production cost (US$/BDT) was sensitive to changes in utilization rate. Evaluations on system balance showed that improved utilization of the grinder could be accomplished as the grinder and loader often waited for a chip van. Integrated harvesting was a cost-effective way of implementing fuel reduction thinning method because of the potential for sawlog revenues to offset some of the biomass extraction cost.

Since 2004, an outbreak of Ips acuminatus killed thousands of Scots pines (Pinus sylvestris L.) in the southeast Alps. In autumn 2007, all infested trees were cut and the timber was harvested by helicopter. The aims of this article are to provide detailed information on total stump-to-truck costs and to analyze the single components of those costs. The felling of 4,519 trees, about 970 m³, needed about 2,417 working hours. The overall cost for tree felling amounted to €35,100, which included €24,600 for labor, €8,300 for coordination and management, and €1,800 for machinery, with a mean cost of about €7.8 per tree. Timber harvesting by helicopter required 73 hours, with an hourly production rate of 13.3 m³. Timber harvesting cost about €56,000, with a mean of €58/m³. The total cost for tree felling and timber harvesting amounted to about €91,000, with a mean cost of €20.1 per tree, i.e., €94/m³. The main results are discussed by comparing our data with those published in similar studies or with costs of alternative harvesting techniques. We argue the environmental aspects may justify the use of helicopter harvesting in alpine forests.

Mills producing spruce–pine–fir (SPF) dimension lumber are required to carry out heat treatment before shipping the lumber to markets. Kiln drying/heat treatment is the most common strategy for drying SPF lumber. Currently there is a question about whether to use air drying before or after heat treatment to improve lumber grade recovery and reduce energy consumption. We tested three drying strategies for spruce/pine and sub-alpine fir lumber: heat treatment followed by air drying (HT+AD), air drying followed by heat treatment (AD+HT), and kiln drying heat treatment alone (KD/HT). Results related to final moisture content uniformity, warp, and drying stress were better when air drying was incorporated in the strategy. The standard deviation of the final moisture content was reduced from 3.9 to 1.3 percent for spruce/pine and from 7.2 to 3.1 percent for sub-alpine fir. Warp was reduced by 27 to 42 percent for spruce/pine and 14 to 41 percent for sub-alpine fir. Using the prong tests, drying stress was reduced by 23 to 60 percent for spruce/pine and 35 to 71 percent for sub-alpine fir. Improved final moisture content uniformity, less warp, and lower drying stresses were obtained for the lumber tested under the HT+AD strategy compared with the AD+HT strategy.

The resistance of three naturally durable heartwood species and a stranded giant bamboo product to fungal and termite (Coptotermes formosanus) attack was evaluated at a test site located near Hilo, Hawaii. Merbau (Intsia bijuga or I. palembanica) and ipe (Tabebuia spp.) were both exceptionally resistant to fungal and termite attack, while western juniper (Juniperus occidentalis) heartwood was slightly less resistant to degradation. The presence of heartwood on western juniper samples had no noticeable effect on the performance of adjacent sapwood. The bamboo decking proved to the least durable of the materials and experienced substantial termite and fungal attack over the 32-month test period.

The objective of this study was to improve the wet shear strength and reduce the formaldehyde emissions for the soybean meal/melamine urea-formaldehyde (MUF) adhesive–bonded plywood by optimizing the hot pressing parameters in plywood manufacturing. An L(4⁴) experimental design was used. A dynamic mechanical analyzer (DMA) was used to study the curing process of the adhesive during hot pressing. The DMA results showed that the storage modulus (E′) first decreased to a minimum at 72.9°C and then increased as the temperature increased to a maximum at 157.2°C. At temperatures higher than 157.2°C, the storage modulus decreased as the temperature increased. The hot press temperature had a significant effect on both the wet shear strength and the formaldehyde emissions from 120°C to 150°C, while no significant effect was found by varying the hot press time from 50 to 80 s/mm and changing the pressure from 0.8 to 1.2 MPa. The adhesive spread rate had a significant effect on the formaldehyde emissions. No significant effect was found on the wet shear strength of plywood by varying the adhesive spread rate from 145 to 205 g/m². The optimum hot pressing parameters were found: 150°C hot press temperature, 70 s/mm in hot press time, 1.2 MPa in hot press pressure, and 165 g/m² in adhesive spread rate. Under such optimum processing conditions, the wet shear strength of the plywood was improved by 24.2 percent from 0.95 to 1.18 MPa, while the formaldehyde emissions was reduced by 21.4 percent from 0.28 to 0.22 mg/liter, which met the type II plywood requirement for wet shear strength and the level E₀ requirement for formaldehyde emissions described in the China National Standard GB/T 9846.3-2004.

A more profitable application of wood-based composites would certainly include the possibility of their use as a dielectric material in the form of electrical insulation. The profitability and the price difference between materials normally used for these insulating purposes and those based on wood would easily justify the interest to study the dielectric properties of such composites. There is another reason why an extension in use of these composites might become important. It originates from the general shortage of high-quality wood. Thus, the related properties of hardboard and medium-density fiberboard were investigated as well as plywood and particleboard. The modifications included treatments by direct current plasma glow discharge, vacuum, conditioning of samples at room temperature for prolonged periods of time, and their combinations.

A relationship was discovered between the applied treatment procedures and the investigated dielectric parameters. The comparison between the treatment effects indicates those most convenient for the purpose of production of electrical insulating and also assists in differentiating which treatment processes lead to improved properties of the investigated wood-based composites.