NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
Contact: Betty J. Munis
Tel: 208-334-3292
e-mail:
ifpc@idahoforests.org
FOREST PRODUCTS WEEK SALUTES WORKING FORESTS
Renewable Resource Provides Jobs, Products and Environmental Benefits
BOISE, Idaho – October 16, 2014 – With 21.5 million acres covered in trees, nearly
40% of the state, Idaho has good reason to celebrate its forests. October 19-25 has
been designated “Idaho Forest Products Week” through a proclamation signed and
sealed by Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter and Secretary of State Ben Ysursa.
Forest products made in Idaho range from the obvious dimension lumber, paper
towels and tissues to furniture, musical instruments, animal bedding and energy. These
businesses have a big impact on Idaho’s economy, with more than 300 manufacturing
facilities throughout the state contributing over $3.5 billion in to the state’s economy,
directly employing over 10,500 people and generating $333.5 million in employee
compensation. Local businesses add significant value to commodity resources and
sustain communities through jobs, taxes and infrastructure. In 2013, the sales value of
wood and paper products was estimated at $2.4 billion.
“Forests are an essential part of Idaho’s history, culture, environment and
economy”, said Betty Munis, director at the Idaho Forest Products Commission (IFPC).
“A century ago Idaho’s forests helped build the state and the nation. Today everything
is high tech from growing seedlings to harvesting trees and making products. In the
future, we’ll be building skyscrapers with wood, fueling our cars with cellulosic ethanol
and using tiny cellulose nanocrystals to strengthen our world. Our past and our future –
it’s all thanks to technology, innovation and the fact that trees are a renewable
resource.”
The Commission suggests a number of ways to celebrate the wood products that
touch our lives every day:
 Explore the 5,000+ products that come from trees. Learn more about the wood
products produced in Idaho and the wood-related local businesses in your back
yard.
 Learn how trees are renewable and forests are replanted after harvest. Consider
how wood products store carbon and the role healthy, growing forests play in
combating climate change through their unique photosynthesis process of
absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen. :
 Check out why acclaimed architect Michael Green designs with wood.
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K-12 students may participate in a statewide essay contest about forests and
trees. A cash prize of $100 will be awarded to the classroom with the winning
entry. Essay deadline is November 3.
Attend an open house on Friday, October 24 at the new Tom and Teita Reveley
Tree Nursery facility at the University of Idaho in Moscow to see the awardwinning building design using local wood products. The event runs from 3 – 6
p.m. and is open to the public. Youth activities available from 3 to 4:30 and tours
of the building and nursery begin at 3:30.
“Working forests are where trees are continually grown, harvested and regrown
for the future,” added Munis. “The ongoing cycle keeps working forests are working for
Idaho.”
The third week in October has long been recognized as National Forest Products
Week. The designation aims to recognize the many products that come from our
forests, the people who work in and manage our forests, the businesses that make the
products and how each one contributes to our lives.
National Forest Products Week began in 1960 with a joint resolution of Congress
proclaiming “our country and its people have always found constant strength, individual
peace and personal pride in the bounty of forest and timberland; and from the beginning
of our Nation’s founding, the forest and its products have provided a core of living and
freedom touching and inspiring each citizen with majestic beauty and practical use.”
For more information about Idaho Forest Products Week and forest products
manufacturers in the state, visit the IFPC website at
http://www.idahoforests.org/nfpw.htm.
Useful online links:
 Idaho Forest Products Week: http://www.idahoforests.org/nfpw.htm
 Idaho Manufacturers: http://www.idahoforests.org/company1.htm
 Reforestation: http://www.idahoforests.org/img/pdf/Reforestation.pdf
 Carbon Cycle: http://www.idahoforests.org/img/pdf/Carbon_final.pdf
 Essay Contest: http://www.idahoforests.org/essay_contest.htm
 U of I Open House: https://www.facebook.com/uidahocnr
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