Welcome to TimberStories.org! This website is linked to a UCLA-centered research project that aims to understand how the restructuring of the US timber industry has impacted those communities who live, work, and play in America’s forests. We want to hear from people who live in forest-reliant communities about what has changed—including shifts in who owns the forests in your communities, working conditions in the industry, mill closures, public impacts of changing timber taxation norms, and changes to forest access, among other topics. Share your experience by clicking here or the button in the top right corner of the page
“Over the past three decades some 50 million acres of timberland valued at over $40 billion has changed ownership or ownership type, the largest transfer of landownership in the United States to occur over the past century”
Source: Gunnoe, A., Bailey, C., and Ameyaw, L. 2018. Millions of Acres, Billions of Trees: Socioecological Impacts of Shifting Timberland Ownership. Rural Sociology, 83(4), 799-822.
Sign at entrance to the town of Bruce, Mississippi. Photo by Kelly Kay.
Saw mill in Millport, Alabama. Photo by Kelly Kay.
Works Progress Administration mural, entitled “Logging in the Maine Woods,” in the post office in Millinocket, Maine. Photo by Kelly Kay.
How do economic transformations—like the restructuring of the US forest products industry—change communities?
This project aims to understand the lived experiences of those who have lived near industrial timberland and worked in the US forest products industry over the last several decades. What has changed in your community? Who owns the land around you and how has that changed? Is your job different than it used to be? Are you able to access places where you like to hike, hunt, fish, boat, snowmobile, or collect forest products? Have changes to the industry changed conditions in your community, like the availability of public services like roads, schools, and libraries?
We want to hear your story! Share by clicking here or using the button at the top of the page. You can share as much or as little as you want—your name, email, and any other identifying information will not be revealed to anybody, and your response could be included (anonymously) in a new book.
Source: Alvarez, Mila. 2018. The State of America’s Forests. Greenville, SC: U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities, Inc. www.usaforest.org
About the Project Lead
Dr Kelly Kay (pictured at the Forest History Society in Durham, NC) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of California - Los Angeles. She received her PhD in Geography from Clark University in Worcester, MA and her BA in Environmental Studies from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, OR. In addition to UCLA, Kelly has held positions in environmental policy, political economy, and natural resource management at the London School of Economics and UC Berkeley.
Dr Kay developed her interest in the forest products industry while living and working in the Pacific Northwest. Her doctoral work then took her to Northern Maine, where she studied conflicts between timberland investment, public and recreational forest access, and conservation in and around former company towns. Currently, Dr Kay is writing an environmental history article on the recreational use of Weyerhaeuser tree farms, and has been interviewing industry participants for a book, focusing on Southeast Georgia and Western Oregon. She is deeply interested in the relationships between communities and their forests, and hopes to better understand the implications of new forms of ownership and management for those who depend on US private forests to support their livelihoods.