Working with both the forests and the trees ...

The times they are a-changing — especially when you’re talking about the timber industry.

Each day, there are new products, new ways to do business and enterprising individuals and businesses carving out new niches.

There’s no doubt that it’s been a rough few years for the industry. Since the Great Recession, mills have closed in both Bonner and Boundary counties and there are fewer timber jobs. However, the enterprising spirit that marks the business and people forming the backbone of the industry prove each day that timber remains a cornerstone of today’s world.

As technology plays a greater role in the industry, it does not lessen the importance of timber in today’s world — or the industry in today’s economy.

For all that has changed, for all that the industry no longer looks like it did 10 years, 50 years or 100 years ago, there is much that is the same.

Today’s loggers still rise early, slip quietly from their homes and head off to work. They take pride in what they do — and area timber companies and loggers will proudly tell you that they plant more trees than they harvest.

As a farmer of sorts, loggers take pride in growing what’s needed for their neighbors — whether it is timber for homes, newsprint for your morning newspaper or anyone of countless products used by each and everyone of us.

Every member of the timber industry — whether they work in the woods, in a mill or a store that sells log furniture are committed to both their jobs and the environment. They know to have jobs, they must safeguard the forests.

Besides, they feel an obligation to their children and grandchildren to nourish the forests and pass it on in as good or better condition.

In fact, with today’s managed forests, it’s hard to tell where the trees of 100 years ago end and today’s trees begin.

It’s all too easy to forget how important the timber industry is — or the ways it impacts our lives. Take a moment today to reflect on the myriad of timber-related products in our lives — from the latest best-selling novel to syrup for a hearty stack of pancakes — and to thank those responsible for bringing those products to you.

And never forget that the timber industry is our heritage, it is our present, it is our future.

Jim McKiernan,

Publisher

Star Silva,

Managing editor