Timber reveune good now, a bit thin for 2014

Wahkiakum County Commissioners had good news and bad news Tuesday when representatives of the Department of Natural Resources presented a report of potential revenue form state-managed county trust timberland.

The good news is that the county will receive about $1.74 million this year, over $500,000 more than expected.

The bad news is that predictions for 2014 and 2015 aren't as high, around $1.2 million per year.

"We had a pretty good increase in timber prices this year," said Regional Manager Steve Ogden.

Log prices have fallen a bit but appear stable, he said. At the beginning of the year, No. 2 Douglas fir saw logs sold for $516 per 1,000 board feet. That price increased to $634 per thousand board feet in April and has fallen to $577 at the end of September.

"Next year's sale is very similar to this year's," Ogden said. "Let's hope the market ticks up."

Commissioners took the news stoically.

"We'll have to hold the line at budget time," said board Chair Blair Brady. "That's the way I look at it. We need $1.25 to $1.3 million a year to run the budget."

"We haven't seen what the market will do," said Commissioner Dan Cothren.

"We haven't seen our other revenues," added Auditor Diane Tischer.