The Northern Arizona timber industry is so far having a better winter than it did last year, when early record snowfall kept them out of the forest for months. Crews continued working on thinning projects through December, especially for lower-elevation areas dominated by pinyon and juniper, timber industry representatives said at this week’s meeting of the Natural Resources Working Group. Of course, a dry winter could usher in a dangerous fire season, which poses an even bigger risk to the logging industry. But so far the sketchy snowfall has kept mills and logging crews in business just when they needed it most. Perhaps most importantly, it has kept the state’s only biomass burning plant in operation. …Most of the news from Tuesday’s meeting was encouraging, especially in contrast to the previous shortage of available timber sales and fears that early snows would shut down the industry.