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Oregon Department of Forestry

Criterion 6 Indicator 32
Rationale
Value of wood and non-wood products as a percentage of GSP.
 
Gross State Product (GSP) is a measure of total economic output. GSP is the dollar value of all the finished goods and services produced in the state. It is used as a measure of total economic activity. Higher growth rates tend to indicate a strong economy. The calculation of the value of wood and non-wood products as a percent of GSP indicates the relative importance of these sectors to the state’s overall economy.

Can This Indicator Be Quantified
   
The U.S. Department of Commerce collects data quantifying GSP. The data is reported by standard industrial classifications, which include a category for lumber and wood products and another category for paper products. However, the economic activity in non-wood forest products cannot be separately quantified because it is included as part of the agriculture, forestry, and fishing classification.
 
In 1996 the lumber and wood products and paper products sectors combined accounted for five percent of Oregon’s GSP. No data exists for non-wood forest products, but its contribution, as a percent of the total $87 billion GSP, is likely to be minor.

Trends
From 1987 through 1989 the Lumber and Wood Products and Paper Products sectors were about ten percent of GSP. In 1990 they dropped to about seven percent of GSP and have continued a gradual decline reaching a low of five percent in 1996. The relative importance of wood products to Oregon’s economy has decreased because of reductions in total wood products output and rapid growth in other sectors of the economy. Oregon’s economy grew at an annual rate of about eight percent between 1987 and 1996 except for the 1990 to 1991 period when it slowed to five or six percent, mainly due to the decrease in wood products production.
 
Figure 32-1. Wood products value as a percent of GSP
 
 
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Data Source and Availability
   
For production and consumption indicators and GSP, the data source is the Regional Economic Analysis Division, which is part of the Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce.
 
See the web site: http://www.bea.doc.gov. Data is available annually.

Reliability of Data
 
This data is highly reliable.

Scale
   
Statewide.

Recommended Action for Data Collection
   
If data on non-wood forest products were to be used as an indicator, it would have to be reported separately or collected with a method that is compatible with the Department of Commerce data. Since either option would be expensive, and non-wood forest products are a relative small portion of Oregon’s economy, it is unlikely that a data source will be developed.

Definitions
  None.

Selected References
 
Beemiller, Richard M., and George K. Downey. 1998. Gross State Product by Industry, 1977-96. Survey of Current Business 78 (June 1998).
 
Friedenberg, Howard L., and Richard M. Beemiller. 1997. Comprehensive Revision of Gross State Product by Industry, 1977-94. Survey of Current Business 77:15-41. June 1997.