Family-Run Timber Lands In Decline
The amount of privately owned land in timber production in the Northwest has dropped about 15 percent over the past 40 years, due largely to non-corporate owners getting out of the business, a government audit said Monday.
Corporate ownership of timber lands in Washington, Oregon and California actually increased nearly 10 percent from 1952 to 1992, from 11.2 million acres to 12.3 million acres, the General Accounting Office said.
But timber lands held by non-corporate owners, usually family run businesses and partnerships with less than 800 acres, declined by about one-third - from 19 million acres to 12.7 million acres, said the GAO, the congressional agency that audits federal programs.
Most of the decline was due to owners converting their land to farms, real estate and other non-timber uses, the report said.
Overall, considering all government and private ownerships, timberland acres in the region declined by about 13 percent over the four decades, from 62 million acres to 54.1 million acres, the GAO said.
Federal ownership of timber lands in the three states has remained fairly consistent during the period, declining about 8 percent, from 28 million acres to 25.8 million acres.
Federally owned timberland made up about 45 percent of the region’s total in 1952 and about 48 percent in 1992, the GAO said.
Rep. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said the report provides ammunition for him and others seeking more tax breaks for private timber land owners. Wyden advocates reduction in capital gains taxes for such land owners and increased latitude for their deduction of expenses.
He said in a letter to Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin on Monday that current tax laws have “played havoc with timber management activities on these lands.
“Conversion of these lands to other non-forest uses does more than eliminate an important portion of our timber base,” Wyden wrote.
“Also, lost forever are values related to watershed maintenance, wildlife habitat and recreational use.”
Wyden said there are about 42,000 non-corporate owners of private timber lands in Oregon, generally owning 800 acres or less each.
Land in that category in Oregon fell 41.7 percent over the 30 years, from 6.3 million acres to 3.7 million acres. In Washington, non-corporate private ownership dropped 27 percent, from 6.6 million acres in 1952 to 4.8 million acres in 1992, the GAO said.
State tax provisions “are generally perceived as having a neutral effect on private landowners’ decisions on land use,” the GAO said.
It said, however, that federal tax provisions, potential regulation of land use and the market price for timber all affected landowner decisions on how to manage their lands.