Wood Products Industries

With $6.3 million in timber value, the county accounts for roughly 8% of the four-county district's $81.7 million total — modest compared to Shasta ($42.4M) and Siskiyou ($29M), but still significant for a county of 15,600 people. Trinity River Lumber Company anchors local production, and the county's 215 manufacturing jobs represent a meaningful share of the local employment base. However, manufacturing employment dropped nearly 10% over the past five years, reflecting the broader decline of traditional timber operations across the region.

The outlook has a cautiously optimistic signal: a projected 7.5% growth in manufacturing employment over the next five years. Realizing that growth depends on pivoting beyond raw lumber. The regional strategy identifies biomass energy, value-added wood products like artisan crafts and furniture, and former mill site redevelopment as the highest-priority opportunities. For a county with vast forested land and increasing fire risk, biomass extraction serves double duty — it creates economic value while reducing wildfire fuel loads.

Board members should push for concrete progress on two fronts: attracting or incubating biomass and value-added wood enterprises locally, and identifying any brownfield mill sites in Trinity County that could follow Siskiyou's redevelopment model. The timber economy isn't coming back in its old form, but the raw materials and workforce foundation are still here.