Family foresters are a key part of timber industry

Timber — and family foresters — are a big part of the Idaho Panhandle.

In assessing Idaho Department of Lands ownership and harvest data, values are estimated at $400/MBF for mill delivered logs and $600MBF for milled products.

Family forests — owned and managed by individual families rather than the U.S. Forest Service, state or forest product companies — are vital to the Idaho Panhandle for low elevation wildlife habitats, water quality, supply for local lumber mills, recreation and many other shared benefits, according to Chris Schnepf, a University of Idaho Extension educator, specializing in forestry.

In Boundary County, 636,861 acres of the land is forested — about 78 percent of the county. Of that, 109,110 acres is family forest land. There are 2,432 owners of family forest land (more than 5 acres).

According to the data, the average annual family forest timber harvest adds up to 23,576,207 board feet with a value of $9,430,483 mill delivered or $14,145, 724 in milled products. About 62 percent of forest acres in Boundary County are federal lands. 16 percent are family forests and 11 percent each are owned by industry and state lands.

In Bonner County, 82 percent of the county is forested land — roughly 911,288 acres. Of those, family forest land accounts for 360,281 acres. There are about 9,215 family forest owners (more than 5 acres). About 39 percent of forest acres in Bonner County are family forests. 44 percent are federal lands, 3 percent owned by industry and 14 percent are state-owned lands.

IDL data shows that the annual family forest timber harvest total 55,997,451 board feet with a value of $22,398,981 mill delivered and $33,598,471 milled products.

In Kootenai County, about 77 percent — or 614,767 acres — of the county’s land mass is forested with 260,264 acres counted as family forest land. There are 9,513 owners of family forest land (more than 5 acres).

In Benewah County, 96 percent of the county is forested — about 485,460 acres. Of that, 252,000 — or 51 percent — is family forest land with 2,503 owners with more than 5 acres. Another 23 percent are federal lands, 16 percent is timber industry owned and 10 percent is state land.

The annual timber harvest in the county from family forest is 34,669,806 board feet, Schnepf said. The value of that annual harvest in the county is $13,867,922 mill delivered and $20,801,884 milled products

The average annual family forest timber harvest totals 52,946,534 board feet, according to the IDL data with a value of $21,178,614 mill delivered and $31,767,920 milled products.