First came the real estate meltdown; home construction dropped way off. Then fuel shot up to $4 a gallon. After that, an ice storm in late January twisted and toppled countless trees. It all adds up to a huge downturn in demand.

Dozens of Ozarks sawmills are still shut down. Ozark Timber in St. Joe is lucky. Production and payroll has only been cut in half.

The heavy oak that railroads run on is keeping the company going at $5,000 per trailerload. There are no orders for hardwood for floors or furniture, or lumberyard lumber.

Ozark Timber still has a few customers for ornamental fence posts and rails. And, like meatpacking plants, they try to use everything, selling sawdust for potting soil mix, and bark covered slabs to charcoal companies. The rest just sits neatly stacked.

Statewide, a $10 billion-a-year industry that provides one in six Arkansas manufacturing jobs is almost at a standstill. Arkansas is one of the top five states in timber, and may not turn around until well into next year.

Revving up to full production will take a real rush into new construction that is still mostly flat as a board.