The Pacific Northwest (Oregon, Washington, and Alaska) is a crucial timber production region for the United States that also serves as one of our country’s most unique landscapes and ecological communities. In this area, moisture carried from the Pacific meets several mountain ranges that run north along the coast, which hold moisture on the coastal side but have a rain shadow affect on lands to the west. Areas west of the mountain ranges receive enough rain that many areas are considered temperate rainforests, while areas to the east more closely resemble the Rocky Mountain region in their climate and plant/animal communities.
The timber industry has been important in the Pacific Northwest since the late nineteenth century.
There are 18 national forests in this region, the vast majority in the moister zone in the coastal halves of the Pacific Northwest states. These forests are characterized by large coniferous trees and a very different role played by fire than in drier regions to the east. In fact, some of the tallest tree species in the world–the coast redwood and the Douglas fir–grow in these forests. The height of these forests plays a role in their fire regime, as well. Although stand-replacing fires are roughly as common in this region as in the Rockies, fire has actually been more common in this region overall, with surface fires making up one-half to two-thirds of all fires.
Because of the valuable tree species found in these forests, the Pacific Northwest has been a national logging hub since the early 1900s, and it remains that to this day. In fact, the two largest timber companies in the United States–Weyerhaeuser and Plum Creek Timber Company–are both based in Washington, and the total value of exported lumber in 2011 alone was more than one billion dollars.
About Pacific Northwest Forests
The Pacific Northwest (Oregon, Washington, and Alaska) is a crucial timber production region for the United States that also serves as one of our country’s most unique landscapes and ecological communities. In this area, moisture carried from the Pacific meets several mountain ranges that run north along the coast, which hold moisture on the coastal side but have a rain shadow affect on lands to the west. Areas west of the mountain ranges receive enough rain that many areas are considered temperate rainforests, while areas to the east more closely resemble the Rocky Mountain region in their climate and plant/animal communities.
There are 18 national forests in this region, the vast majority in the moister zone in the coastal halves of the Pacific Northwest states. These forests are characterized by large coniferous trees and a very different role played by fire than in drier regions to the east. In fact, some of the tallest tree species in the world–the coast redwood and the Douglas fir–grow in these forests. The height of these forests plays a role in their fire regime, as well. Although stand-replacing fires are roughly as common in this region as in the Rockies, fire has actually been more common in this region overall, with surface fires making up one-half to two-thirds of all fires.
Because of the valuable tree species found in these forests, the Pacific Northwest has been a national logging hub since the early 1900s, and it remains that to this day. In fact, the two largest timber companies in the United States–Weyerhaeuser and Plum Creek Timber Company–are both based in Washington, and the total value of exported lumber in 2011 alone was more than one billion dollars.
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