Employment

In the calendar year 1997, logging companies and sawmills employed an annual average of 1900 workers, peaking at 2,400 at the height of the logging season in August and September. Sawmills and secondary manufacturers, which provide more seasonally stable employment than logging, account for 292 and 91 positions, respectively, of that total. The Ketchikan Pulp Corporation pulp mill employed an annual average of 217 persons as it ramped down pulp production due to the cancellation of its long-term contract with the United States Forest Service (USFS). Using the USFS indirect employment multiplier of .73, these directly employed workers created another 1530 positions in closely-related industries such as trucking and road-building as well as jobs supported by industry workers’ take-home pay. Annual payroll figures for the calendar year 1997 were $78.8 million for logging, $10.2 million for primary sawmills, and $2 million for secondary processors. This totals $84 million in annual payroll for logging and solid wood products. As suggested by the decline in harvest levels, the industry’s employment levels are at comparable lows. In 1990, the average annual employment by logging companies, sawmills, and pulp mills totaled 4,000. The 1997 total represents a decline of 53%.  

Source: Alaska Department of Labor, Research and Analysis Section.