Boise News

From the Panhandle With Cate Huisman

Timber Falls, But Manufacturing Rises in the Panhandle

By Cate Huisman, 11-14-09

Beardmore River Pig Crew on the Priest River, early 20th c.

What stands out from the “first annual” Economic Outlook Forum that was held in Sandpoint Thursday is the extent to which the panhandle continues to grow away from its roots in the timber industry. This process has been going on for decades, but the current recession and concomitant implosion of the real estate market have hastened the transition. While logging and milling employed over 1100 local people in January of 2006, that number had fallen to less than 500 by January of 2009.

For a while, mills laid off workers, cut shifts, or shut down for a few weeks at a time. But in October 2008, JD Lumber permanently closed its mill in Priest River, and Idaho Forest Group ceased production at its mill in Laclede two months later.

Tourism has been down too, with visits recorded at visitor centers down by more than half in 2008 from their levels in 2006, although they’ve rebounded a bit since then. Our northern neighbors, with their Canadian dollar strengthening against ours, may be thanked for 30% to 40% of these visits, up from about 20% before the current recession.

I used to wonder how a logger could make the transition from setting chokers in the woods to hobnobbing with vacationers from behind a counter stocked with “I ♥ Idaho” t-shirts and huckleberry hand lotion. But it turns out that the bull of the woods and his buddies have a lot more options than that. According to Kathryn Tacke, regional economist for the Idaho Department of Labor, Bonner County has gained almost 1000 non–wood products manufacturing jobs in the last decade, a growth record that far exceeds that of many other Idaho counties.

People who used to cut down trees and convert them into lumber at local mills might now work for Quest Aircraft producing its Kodiak airplane, designed especially for use in remote areas and on short landing strips. Or they might join the production line at Unicep in Sandpoint, packaging gels and liquids for GlaxoSmithKline, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. Or they might get a job with Pneumex making equipment to help people recover from back injuries and shoulder surgery.

Even though unemployment is running higher in the panhandle than in the rest of the state and the country, and ranging perhaps as high as 25% in Priest River due to the mill closures, forum speakers were upbeat. They see the national economy as having bounced off the floor and started its long climb up from the bottom, and they expect the panhandle to come right along with it.

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