Action Alerts

Estimated timber losses from Hurricane Katrina total 15 billion to 19 billion board feet from 5 million acres of damaged forestland in Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service.

Glenn Hughes, Mississippi State University Extension Service forester, said Hurricane Katrina destroyed much of the standing timber in South Mississippi, and landowners are working now to salvage what they can.

The salvage job is massive, but speed is critical in the recovery.

"Landowners with downed timber need to salvage this timber promptly. Pine trees that are snapped are already getting blue stain fungi on the wood, and this lowers wood quality and price," Hughes said. "In addition, southern pine sawyers are boring into the wood, causing further losses in quality and value. Trees that are blown over, but still connected to a root ball, have a larger window of opportunity for harvesting, generally until next spring."

- The Mississippi Forestry Commission offers www. msforestry. blogspot. com. This site offers users a variety of information, plus postings by those offering forestry services.

- The U. S. Department of Agriculture - Natural Resource Conservation Service created a database at www. msrcd. org/katrina. htm to link those with portable sawmills with landowners needing to salvage downed timber.

- The Wood Supply System Group has a Hurricane Katrina database for landowners and loggers at www. wssg. cfr. msstate. edu/. This site is divided into groups of those offering salvage services, those needing salvage services and those seeking wood products.

- A toll-free number, (866) 706-8869, is available for logging contractors to register for hurricane relief opportunities. This number was established to connect loggers who may have partial crews or equipment, so that resources can be combined and salvage efforts can be done more efficiently.

- More information on timber salvage and hurricane recovery is available from the MSU Extension Service online at http://msucares.com/forestry/index.html