The Lumber Industry
Sources:
Humboldt County Employment Development Department
http://www.civilliberties.org/ss00spray.html
How
are we doing?
The lumber industry is a major contributor to the mobilization of the work force within Humboldt County. According to the numbers from the Employment Development Department the numberof people employed by the lumber industry has been slowly decreasing since a peak in 1996 (see employment graph). The industry is not able to produce jobs at a higher rate because of their unsustainable practices of the past. The industry is waiting for the trees to come back up in numbers so they can increase production. There is no indication of a significant focus on sustainable forestry by the large timber companies such as Barnum, Simpson, Sierra Pacific and Pacific Lumber. In fact there are herbicide spray alerts in areas that have been clear-cut by the above named companies. The average wage in the lumber industry bounces between $30,000 to $36,000 annually. These wages that were calculated are the average and it is not likely that the average lumberjack is making this amount of money.
Why is
this important?
The lumber industry and its practices are important to Humboldt County because it is such a large sector of the economy. The lumber industry is directly dealing with the natural capital of Humboldt County (trees). It is important that the practices of the industry focus on sustainable practices or the capital will be deteriorated down to nothing useful. If the lumber industry produces above the maximum sustainable yield of the resource then all other capitals will decline with the loss of the natural capital. Human capital will lose because the industry will no longer be able to employ people skilled in lumbering. The entire county has a culture that is close to lumbering, as seen in the Somoa Cookhouse. The Counties future economic health can be better protected if the lumber industry takes on a more sustainable position. A more sustainable approach will allow future generations to enjoy and prosper from the beautiful natural capital of trees.