While Tuesday’s Senate approval of a federal log export ban is only the beginning, it is the first piece of good news in the timber crisis for a long time.
The Senate overwhelmingly passed Oregon Republican Sen. Bob Packwood’s amendment to a Department of the Interior bill that would allow Oregon and her fellow West Coast states to ban most log exports off of state lands.
Two weeks ago, Oregon Rep. Pete DeFazio called for a total ban of raw log exports. The Senate bill doesn’t go quite that far. After all, owners of private timber acreage can do whatever they want with their logs — including selling them overseas for an enormous profit.
A complete ban will only occur in stages. Consider the Senate ban step one.
One of the major provisions of the bill prohibits a common practice known as “substitution.” It’s the timber equivalent of a three-card monte game. Here’s how the scam works: Private timber companies, with their own log supply, bid in federal timber sales. They send the federal logs to the local mills, while exporting their timber overseas — usually to Japan. This and other variations sap log supplies, forcing mill closures and unemployment.
A raw log export ban, modeled after DeFazio’s proposal, is the only way timber countries are going to be able to stay in business. Most have realized this and come out in support of Packwood’s plan. Some Washington legislators are squabbling about some of the bill’s provisions, but the state neither carries the power nor the seats to sway many lawmakers.
It’s foolish for any timber industry official to oppose a log export ban. Granted, the proceeds from such export sales are enormous and must seem attractive to companies in dire financial straits. But the practice is completely deceptive. Timber officials are toying with their companies’ future health in exchange for short-term economic profit.
It’s an old story, but with a possibly different ending. There is no reserve of old growth timber to fall back on anymore. With the spotted owl-old growth ban likely to go into effect, timber companies will lose a huge amount of board feet. Without a log export ban, they’ll lose even more.
The battle over the bill isn’t over. It still has to weather a bicameral conference committee, where the Washington delegation is expected to lodge their complaints against the “substitution” codicil. Hopefully, the other legislators won’t listen to them.
This editorial was taken from the April 26, 1990, edition
of the Oregon Daily Emerald.