Estimates of Hurricane Laura’s Impact on Loggers and Landowners in Louisiana is Staggering

According to a report by Jeff Zeringue, in the Louisiana Logging Council’s Louisiana Logger publication, loggers and landowners in Louisiana experienced a year’s worth of timber harvest overnight when Hurricane Laura badly damaged more that 758,000 acres of timberland in Louisiana in late August. According to estimates, more than 3.5 million BF of sawtimber (2.8 billion BF of Pine and 740 billion BF of Hardwood) or 39 million tons of wood came down as Laura blew through the area. LSU’s AgCenter economist Kurt Guidry said that “Based on the amount of infrastructure damage that occurred and the losses associated with timber, the total economic impact to the food and fiber sector from Hurricane Laura will be as large as or larger than any storm that I have developed estimates for since my time with the AgCenter.” On the ground, loggers are looking to salvage what they can. However, a glut of timber means a big drop in timber prices is inevitable. Also, standard wood mechanized logging equipment is not designed to handle logs already on the ground. The process by necessity is going to slow and dangerous and safety must remain everyone’s top priority.