NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Saturday, January 16, 2021
Why is there a lumber shortage in the U.S.?
By SIERRA DAWN
MCCLAIN
Capital Press
SALEM — Many parts
of the U.S. are facing lumber
shortages — and experts say
the problem is acute in the
West after 2020’s devastat-
ing wildfi res.
Industry experts say
several events led to the
lumber shortage: lockdown
orders and closures, new
safety protocols that slowed
production at mills, and
a spike in home remodel-
ing while Americans were
quarantined followed by a
massive wildfi re season.
“The industry is normally
like this fi ne-tuned machine.
A lot of events (in 2020)
disrupted it,” said Cindy
Mitchell, senior director of
public affairs at the Washing-
ton Forest Protection Associ-
ation, or WPFA.
Cumming Corp., an inter-
national cost consulting fi rm,
said wildfi res along the West
Coast “have led to a signifi -
cant spike in certain material
prices.”
According to the Oregon
Forest and Industries Coun-
cil, or OFIC, a trade group
representing forestland
owners and wood product
manufacturers, last year’s
fi res in Oregon alone may
have killed 15 billion board-
feet of timber, enough to
Ryan Brennecke/EO Media Group, File
Experts say several factors contributed to the lumber shortage: lockdown orders, new safety protocols, a spike in home re-
modeling and a massive wildfi re season.
build 1 million homes.
The National Associa-
tion of Home Builders, or
NAHB, reports that between
mid-April and mid-Sep-
tember 2020, lumber prices
soared more than 170%,
adding $16,148 to the price
of a typical new single-fam-
ily home. Prices drifted lower
at the start of fall, but they’re
on the rise again.
Mitchell of WFPA and
Sara Duncan, spokeswoman
for Oregon Forest and Indus-
tries Council, or OFIC,
both said the lumber crisis
was precipitated by several
events.
Some Western states
temporarily shut down
construction work at the start
Forecast for Pendleton Area
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of COVID-19, which in turn
meant some mills had to shut
down, creating a backlog.
New safety protocols
within mills slowed produc-
tion.
With Americans stuck
at home under shutdowns,
remodeling boomed and
people used up much of the
existing lumber supply at a
time when mill production
was curtailed.
Then wildfi re season hit,
wiping out millions of acres
of timberland.
Now, demand for building
materials is even higher from
West Coast communities that
are rebuilding after fi res.
The lumber shortage has
had a variety of impacts.
Construction associations
have reported contractors are
showing increased interest in
alternative materials, such as
metal framing.
Forestry leaders say
higher lumber prices don’t
mean timberland managers
are hitting it big. Instead,
experts say, many timber
companies are facing tight
margins because they
had equipment and trees
destroyed in fires, higher
input costs and expenses
associated with labor and
reforesting.
Lumber shortages also
have economic consequences
for fi re victims.
Many U.S. insurance poli-
cies limit the time frame a
person has to rebuild a home
after a fire. With limited
supplies of lumber and few
contractors available, many
survivors may not meet their
insurance rebuilding dead-
lines.
Some state agencies are
seeking to address this. In
Oregon, for example, the
state Division of Financial
Regulation recently negoti-
ated agreements with several
insurance companies, push-
ing them to extend their time-
lines to at least two years
after the date of loss.
“The weirdness of (2020)
backed up the whole forestry
system,” said Mitchell of
WPFA.
La Grande BLM billboard defaced
By KALEB LAY
La Grande Observer
Some sun, then
turning cloudy
Clouds giving way
to some sun
40° 33°
50° 34°
Mostly sunny
Times of clouds
and sun
Mostly cloudy
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
46° 30°
42° 31°
46° 31°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
41° 35°
52° 30°
50° 29°
44° 32°
45° 31°
OREGON FORECAST
ALMANAC
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Seattle
Olympia
49/43
40/34
41/33
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
39/35
Lewiston
50/44
42/34
Astoria
51/45
Pullman
Yakima 40/33
48/41
44/37
Portland
Hermiston
51/42
The Dalles 41/35
Salem
Corvallis
50/41
Yesterday
Normals
Records
La Grande
41/33
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
Bend
52/42
50/33
44/30
Ontario
40/31
Caldwell
Burns
47°
28°
41°
28°
63° (1961) -10° (1950)
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
Albany
51/42
Trace
0.34"
0.62"
0.34"
0.13"
0.62"
WINDS (in mph)
41/28
42/24
0.01"
0.44"
0.81"
0.44"
0.60"
0.81"
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 40/33
49/41
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
HERMISTON
Enterprise
40/33
46/39
45°
27°
41°
27°
68° (1974) -8° (1907)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
47/40
Aberdeen
37/33
36/30
Tacoma
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
48/43
Today
Boardman
Pendleton
Medford
56/37
Sun.
NNE 3-6
NNW 4-8
WSW 7-14
WSW 7-14
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
49/28
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2021
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
7:31 a.m.
4:39 p.m.
9:58 a.m.
8:43 p.m.
First
Full
Last
New
Jan 20
Jan 28
Feb 4
Feb 11
NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 94° in Oceanside, Calif. Low -19° in Daniel, Wyo.
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
LA GRANDE — A bill-
board in La Grande featuring
a Black Lives Matter logo was
defaced with white paint last
weekend.
The sign was erected after
a crowdfunding effort in
August 2020 raised $5,000.
Maria Carmichael, who led
that effort, said she’d expected
the billboard to be vandalized
sooner or later.
“I’m disappointed, but I’m
not at all surprised,” Carmi-
chael said. “If anything, I’m
surprised it didn’t happen
sooner given all of the vitriol
that was spewed in response
to the sign going up in the fi rst
place. There were threats to
shoot it, to paintball it, to burn
it down, and it wasn’t just a few
people saying that.”
A tidal wave of social
media engagement — much of
it emotionally charged — also
met the La Grande Observer‘s
coverage of the then-incoming
billboard.
The Black Lives Matter
sign was initially slated to
be put up in a different loca-
tion, but it was moved to the
billboard along Interstate 84
because it was “less accessi-
ble” and would be more diffi -
cult to vandalize, Carmichael
said.
She indicated she would
support reporting the vandal-
ism to law enforcement, but
Maria Carmichael/Contributed Photo
A billboard in support of the Black Lives Matter movement
stands defaced on Monday, Jan. 11, 2021, on Interstate 84 in
La Grande.
the decision ultimately fell
to Meadow Advertising, the
company based in The Dalles
that owns the billboard.
“If they are OK with me
making a report, I would like
to do that,” she said.
Carmichael is wasting no
time, however, in trying to fi nd
out who is responsible.
“I am actively seeking
information from people, if
they happened to see anything
posted on social media, hear
of anything about the vandal-
ism,” she said. “It is a small
town, but it’s also located right
on the freeway.”
The vandalism of the
Black Lives Matter billboard
follows the insurrection at the
United States Capitol build-
ing on Jan. 6. Five people died
as a result of the riot, includ-
ing one United States Capitol
Police offi cer whom the mob
dragged and beat.
Conspiracy theories circu-
lating on social media are that
some accused Black Lives
Matter and Antifa supporters
posed as supporters of Presi-
dent Donald Trump during the
riot. Myriad outlets, among
them the Associated Press,
Politifact, Reuters and USA
Today, quickly debunked
those claims. Fox News also
acknowledged there is no
evidence to support those
conspiracy theories.
Carmichael said the insur-
rection may have contributed
to the vandal’s motivation, but
the hate for the Black Lives
Matter symbol was in place
long before the events of Jan. 6.
“I would say that (the U.S.
Capitol riot) probably embold-
ened whoever did it, but again,
there were hundreds of terri-
ble remarks on social media,”
Carmichael said.
The defaced vinyl on the
billboard has been taken
down and will be replaced in
the coming weeks, Carmichael
said, as soon as replacement
vinyl can be produced and
arrives in La Grande.
IN BRIEF
Oregon Association of
Nurseries to host virtual
marketplace
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
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The event, called Nursery Guide LIVE, will
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“Nursery Guide LIVE is designed to provide
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to complement rather than replace the annual
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At the Nursery Guide LIVE event, associa-
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Many nursery owners are already part of
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