WHY Is America The Biggest Lumber Importer In The World? | Mike Albrecht #428 | The Way I Heard It

I live in Oregon. I remember when Oregon provided 3/4's of all he dimensional lumber in America. Now, we export trees to China so China cuts Oregon trees into lumber and we import the lumber back to America at huge tariffs. It's stupid.

I lived in British Columbia most of my adult life and can say with some conviction that logging is the MOST sustainable of any of our resources. I've done it all, from knocking them down to working in the sawmill. I've planted trees and something you guys didn't mention is that for every tree knocked down, three are planted. In Canada the land that isn't private which is most of the land, is owned by the crown, the government. They set the standards for what must be done and every contract let out for logging must include tree planting. In BC they also let the forestry people burn the slash, which is usually piled up in the center of the clearcut, and when the weather is right it is set on fire. So logging is sustainable and should be done regularly in all forests. Just as a side note Mike, most logging trucks are not flatbed trailers, but single purpose units with no frame between the front set of wheels and the trailer set. There is only a long steel pole between them, the logs provide stability. I live in coastal Oregon now and the thing that really makes me angry is to see the most perfect fir logs taken out and put on ships going to China. It is a crime against our loggers to ship whole logs out of the country.

Mike you are a National Treasure. Thank you sir.

Why did the pine beetle infest a whole generation of trees East of the continental divide in Montana, and then spread to central Montana and kill some of my old growth ponderosa in my yard. They invaded areas of the mountains that were so overcrowded with pines that you cannot walk between them. They invaded the sickly trees and the healthy ones too. Then they took to the wind and came to my home, 100 miles away. It’s a renewable resource people!! Thin them out, the more room they have to grow, the healthier they are. 😢😩

My husband is a logger and is the son of a logger and it’s all he’s ever done. He puts in about 16 hours a day, I really don’t think people realize how important this is for everyone.

I'm near Port Orford where the Port Orford Cedar comes from. I would love to have all our PNW mills opened back up & stop exporting our logs, let us mill them! Sell our lumber instead of our logs! However you stated something about Fish & Game. I must say that it was dumb idea of F&G to protect the invasive California Steller Sea lions up here in Oregon. Commercial Fishing gets blamed for the lack of fish so often. I feel it is the protected Steller Sea lions eating nearly every Salmon that enters the mouth of the rivers in my area that are to blame for the lack of Salmon over the last 20 years. Sea lions are wrecking havoc on our Salmon runs. Ok off my soapbox, time to build a nice fire and get warmed up.

Hold these environmental organizations liable for all fire damage. It is clear that they work against humanity. When logic is ignored for their personal gain and they have no skin in the game, they need to mind their own business or be financially responsible. Emotion over common sense should be illegal.

Forest rotting and dying and turning into forest fires. Seen it in Northern California when I lived there.

Glad basketball floors are still wood. Like the CAVE acronym. Citizens against virtually everything.

Skyscrapers made from wood seems like a hard sell. Not for me.