More proof of a vanishing or, at least, a shrinking way of life was in the headlines last week: Timber harvests have hit a record low in Eastern Oregon.

The unhappy news is a part of the 2005 Annual Timber Harvest Report released by the Oregon Department of Forestry. Gary Lettman, a department economist, comments in the report that the possibility of further timber industry decline in these parts is "worrisome." It is, indeed. Just ask any family whose livelihood depends on how many trees can be cut.

As Lettman says, reduced logging on national forests is driving the problem. As the 2005 report notes, harvests on the east side fell 37 percent.

By now, people living in Eastern Oregon are accustomed to headlines and news stories about the suffering timber industry. Mill closures and job losses have been the order of business the past decade or so.

Only a few mills remain, and most of those are limping along, taking what little supply they can get from the feds and scrounging from other, mostly private, sources. Luckily for Union County, the Boise mills in La Grande, Island City and Elgin seem to be holding their own. But then, Boise never was dependent on national forest timber. Formerly, they grew their own; now, they're buying it mainly from Forest Capital Partners, the company that purchased Boise's timber holdings as part of a massive business reorganization a couple of years ago.

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Best reports say the arrangement will continue to work well for Boise for the foreseeable future. Forest Capital is also supplying some timber for other mills in our region.

Still, continued declines in National Forest supply don't bode well for the industry. Private operators and the few smaller public agencies can do only so much.

The news becomes even gloomier when one considers how little the Healthy Forest Restoration Act, signed by President Bush in 2003, has helped so far.

The act is supposed to make possible more timber salvage operations. But the sale approval process remains agonizingly slow, and there are still many environmental groups putting up legal roadblocks.

In the meantime, loggers and mill workers in Eastern Oregon are themselves becoming endangered species. Somebody should step up and write a law that protects them.