We are losing thousands of jobs at the cost of one-third more money for the logs.

That decline has taken a heavy toll on our industry as a whole -- from songwriters losing their jobs to record stores, especially those around college campuses, closing their doors.

Before we were losing jobs. I think it is fair to say many of the steps we took created a more favorable business climate. I am not saying the problem is solved but we are a long way down the road from where we were three years ago.

It's a failed policy. Basically, we gave corporations everything they asked for without a struggle . . . I find it totally outrageous when the government says we have too much capacity (mills) and then signs off on raw-log exports.

People are being thrown out like yesterday's newspaper. It's frustrating to see this happen . . . The forest industry is melting itself down into an export business by shutting down mills.

What's happening is that consumers are worried about losing their jobs, and if consumers worry about losing their jobs, they spend less money -- so the economy slows down, so they lose their jobs -- it's a vicious circle.