Wet summer leads to rise in Georgia timber prices

ATLANTA - One of the wettest summers in recent years has made tree harvesting more difficult across Georgia and South Carolina, contributing to skyrocketing timber and pulpwood prices. <br> <br> With soggy soil and muddy conditions throughout the region, timber-harvesting machinery can&#39;t be used in the forests for fear it will become stuck. The rainy conditions and difficult harvest have sparked a 27 percent increase in the price of saw timber, from 290 dollars per thousand board feet in May to 368 dollars in August. <br> <br> Pulpwood prices also have climbed, from four a ton to between five dollars-50 cents and $6.50 a ton. Tree farmers say they are being forced to cut down crops they would ordinarily reserve until the wetter months of winter. <br> <br> A spokesman for the South Carolina Forestry Commission, Ken Cabe, said wet weather isn&#39;t the only explanation for the quick escalation of timber prices. Low interest rates have kept home construction strong, buoying the demand for lumber and plywood. Also, a huge government purchase of plywood caused prices to rise by 30 percent. <br> <br> While rain has fattened the pockets of landowners along the high, sandy ridge that runs through South Carolina&#39;s midsection, it has hurt loggers and sawmills. <br> <br> Reg Williams, a co-owner of the Log Creek Timber Company of Edgefield, South Carolina, said ``That&#39;s made the wood hard to come by. The timber company, the loggers and the mills have felt the pinch.&#39;&#39;