Western lumber output declines a second year
By Rocky Mountain News
Published December 12, 2008 at 10:05 p.m.
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With the housing market on the ropes, lumber production at Western sawmills in 2007 slipped for the second straight year to the lowest annual volume in more than a decade, according to final production figures prepared by Western Wood Products Association.
Mills in the 12 Western states, including Colorado, produced 16.32 billion board feet of softwood lumber in 2007, down 9.3 percent from the previous year. The estimated wholesale value of the lumber was $6.1 billion, compared with $6.8 billion in 2006. The volume was the lowest since 1996, when Western mills produced just 15.8 billion board feet. The Four Corner states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah produced 234 million board feet.
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