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The U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service Pacific Northwest (PNW) Research Station has launched a research initiative to improve and organize policy-relevant understanding of forest carbon accounting and fill knowledge gaps about forest carbon dynamics. There are several dimensions to forest carbon accounting, including tracking wood products flow from the forest to various destinations. More information is needed to improve the accounting of timber harvested within the Pacific coast region (PCR; British Columbia, California, Oregon, and Washington) but processed elsewhere. We examined PCR timber harvest volumes and the flow of sawlogs, pulplogs, and woodchips between the PCR and the rest of the world for the period 1990?2018.

Here are the top 10 predictions for the U.S. and global economies courtesy of our friends at IHS Markit:

There are a number of obstacles for small and midsized Montana firms to face when looking to expand into international markets.

The purpose of the Montana World Trade Center? International Trade and Investment Survey is to illuminate key characteristics of Montana businesses that engage in international trade. These characteristics demonstrate the importance of international trade to Montana?s economy in terms of jobs produced, wages paid and revenue generated. The findings of this survey also provide information that business and government decision makers can use to grow Montana?s international trade portfolios. This survey was sponsored by the Montana World Trade Center? and was administered by University of Montana?s Bureau of Business and Economic Research. The survey was conducted in late 2020. Of the 245 businesses asked to respond to this survey, 100 (41%) participated.

How COVID-19 Has Reshaped the Economy - What Changes Are Here to Stay? A Life-Or-Death Moment for Cities - New York and Other Metropolises Must Protect Themselves From pandemics or Our Future Will Be Far Less Urban The State of Manufacturing in Montana - Manufacturing Growth Stalls Due to COVID-19

Overcoming the Pandemic: With the welcome news of real progress on the deployment of an effective COVID-19 vaccine and the conclusion of a bitter political election comes a tentative new optimism for the economy in 2021. IHS Market, a global forecasting company, now projects a return to the U.S. economy''s pre-pandemic growth path by the end of 2021, a significant revision from the more pessimistic assessments being made last summer.

Softwood logs comprise a large portion of forest products exports from the United States. Most of these exports have occurred between the Pacific Northwest region of the United States and several Asian countries. In this study, the extent and degree of market integration of softwood log exports from 1996 to 2018 are examined by cointegration analyses and permanent-transitory decomposition. Softwood log exports to Japan and South Korea appear to be in the same economic market and show a high degree of integration, while trade between the United States and China has evolved more independently. A detailed analysis is conducted on five prices related to Japan and South Korea with full-time coverage, and one common integrating factor is found and estimated. The price of export from the Columbia-Snake Customs District to Japan is identified as the driving force. Price responses to market shocks usually occur within four months. These findings have implications for government agencies and participants in the market of softwood log trade.

This article looks at nine of Montana''s key industries; Farming and Ranching: Price Declines and Exports Make for a Challenging Year, Forest Products: Positive Signs for Montana, Energy: What to Watch for in 2020, Manufacturing: Montana Outpaces Nation as a Whole, Travel, Tourism and Recreation: Nonresident Visitation Stable, Health Care: The Impact of Medicaid Expansion, Transportation and Logistics: A Shortage of Drivers Continues to Cause Concern, Technology and Innovation: Record Revenue, Jobs and Venture Capital Investment, Real Estate and Construction: Housing Markets Lack Inventory.

In early 2018, the Trump administration announced its first round of trade tariffs ? none of the administration?s trade policies have been ratified by Congress. The first round began in January 2018 on consumer appliances, and was quickly followed by tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. In May 2019, an additional $50 billion in tariffs were added on Chinese imports. The repercussions of these restrictive trade policies resulted in predicted retaliatory tariffs on U.S. exports. The impacts of these tariffs are being passed on and paid for by U.S. consumers ? because tariffs lead to higher domestic prices for protected goods.

The U.S. economy continues to move into positive territory and the unemployment rate is at a near historic low. But is a recession coming in 2019?

What would the economy of the state of Montana look like if the eight largest hardrock mines ? producing copper, palladium, gold, talc, cement and other products and materials ? did not exist? The communities in which those facilities are located ? the businesses, the households and governments whose economic fortunes are closely tied with the success of Montana?s mines ? already understand the importance of the hardrock mining industry to their own prosperity. It is perhaps less apparent ? but no less important ? to the population of the state as a whole.

Global economic conditions are important for Montana businesses because many operate in the world market. Take a tour of the global economy.

There are a variety of products that bear the Made in Montana mark and it seems to be cropping up everywhere. But what does it mean to be Made in Montana?

The overall world outlook is more positive than last year. Global economic growth is up for 2017 and will accelerate in 2018. Take a tour of the global economy with a summary of national and state trends.

The 2017 Economic Outlook Seminar covered a wide range of sectors and topics from job growth to energy and tourism. In this round table discussion, we highlight some of those topics and industries in an effort to better understand the state?s economic climate.

The world is buzzing with the news of the United Kingdom?s withdrawal from the European Union (Brexit). Whatever the outcome it could not have come at a worse time. Take a tour of the global economy in the wake of Brexit.

If you enjoy sleepless nights and watching your hair fall out, then perhaps you should get into the commodity business. The big swings that occur in commodity prices, often due to speculation or events half a world away, make the business of prediction an exceedingly risky one. Yet Montana producers of all kinds of commodities have been mostly winning in the marketplace the better part of the last decade. Sustained high prices for everything from oil to beef have added spark to the state economy and kept tax coffers in Helena flush.

Situated in the geographic center of Montana in the midst of rolling hills, farms, and ranches is something a little unexpected: one of the most vibrant manufacturing communities in the state. With a population of about 6,500, Lewistown has a cluster of companies that design, engineer, and manufacture products for airports, oil companies, federal agencies, food distribution centers, sports arenas, hospitals, banks, schools, the military, and the aerospace industry, to name a few. Together, the group supports nearly 500 manufacturing jobs in the Lewistown area.

This poster presents the findings of the Bureaus''s Survey of Alaska forest products mill operations for 2011. I graphical presents the location/types of mills, Alaska timber harvest by species, ownership, timber processing capacity and use, primary wood products and mill residues, and log and pulpwood exports by destination. It also summarizes the results and highlights of the survey.

The U.S. economy is now in the fourth year of an exceedingly slow recovery that began from a cyclic trough in the second quarter of 2009. The recovery is under way in manufacturing. The comeback of durable goods production accounted for most of the growth. This report was prepared by Montana State University Montana Manufacturing Extension Center and the University of Montana Bureau of Business and Economic Research and examines trends in Montana manufacturing.

While construction is just beginning to recover in the U.S., it is booming in Asia, and demand for wood products in Asia has been growing rapidly during the past five years. At the same time, Montana has experienced low domestic wood products sales due to reduced demand during the Great Recession. Could diversifying into new international markets provide opportunities to strengthen Montana's forest products industry?

The first decade of the Twenty-first Century proved tumultuous for the West's forest products industry. A strong economy, low interest rates, easy access to credit, and real estate speculation fostered more than two million U.S. housing starts in 2005 and record lumber consumption from 2003 to 2005. With the decline in U.S. housing beginning in 2006, the 2008 global financial crisis, an over 50-year record low 554,000 housing starts in 2009, wood product prices and production fell dramatically. In 2009 and 2010, virtually every major western mill suffered curtailments and 30 large mills closed permanently. Sales value of wood and paper products in the West dropped from $49 billion in 2005 to $34 billion in 2009. Employment declined by 71,000 workers and lumber production fell by almost 50 percent from 2005 to 2009. Capacity utilization at sawmills and other timber-using facilities in the West fell from over 80 percent in 2005 to just over 50 percent in 2009 and 2010. With the exception of exports and some paper markets, U.S. wood products markets have improved little since the recession officially ended in 2009.