DNR predicts flat timber revenue for the county

Wahkiakum County can expect little change in the revenue it receives from state managed timber sales over the next three years.

Staff of the Department of Natural Resources, which manages the harvest of timber from county trust lands, made the report Tuesday to the county board of commissioners.

The good news, they said, is that the recent sale on Bradley Mountain went for very competitive, high prices. The county should realize around $915,828 from the sale this year.

The bad news, according to Commissioner Blair Brady, is that the county is looking at a $750,000 shortfall this year.

Further, said Steve Ogden, DNR assistant regional manager for operations, the proceeds will stay nearly the same in 2017 and 2018. The Sharp Edge Sorts sale is expected to generate $825,000 in 2017, and Universal Sorts is expected to generate $900,000 in 2018.

DNR Marketing Specialist Keith Jones said timber prices have stayed stable over the past 12 months.

"That makes projections a lot easier," he said.

"The prices on sort sales have been real good, and especially on the higher quality logs," he added.

In a sort sale, the logger sorts logs by size and species and then sells each sort to the mill offering the highest price. In that way, the price of low value logs doesn't decrease the value of higher quality logs as would happen if all the sorts were sold together.

New St. Helens District Manager Padraic Callahan said there is timber on the current sale, Mill Fir Sorts, that is proving to be hard to sell. It is 70-year-old Douglas fir that is larger than most mills can handle.

The logs will be sidelined until they find a good buyer.

Commissioner Mike Backman suggested the logs could be sold for fire wood, which is hard for many people to obtain.

Ogden explained that the logs total an estimated 1.5 million board feet, which is a lot of firewood. Also, firewood sells for very low cost, so "There's a big chunk of change which the county wouldn't get," he said.

Commissioner Dan Cothren suggested the agency not be hasty in decommissioning roads that lead to areas where firewood could be found.

Ogden said the agency normally leaves roads leading to landings open. They close dirt roads and roads with temporary bridges, which they remove. This lowers the cost of logging and increases the proceeds.

"The other thing, too," Ogden said, "when you have a sale and you can operate on a dirt spur, that's the biggest value, if you can avoid putting rock down. You can't leave a dirt spur open. It will get torn up."