Timber companies are telling members of Congress that the wood products industry will continue to suffer mill closures unless federal land policies take a friendlier view toward logging. In a letter, the American Forest Resource Council said the Pacific Northwest is particular is struggling despite an abundance of trees appropriate for lumber and other wood products. The trouble is largely due to state-level policies that restrict access to timber on privately owned land, as well as to past damage from wildfires, the group said, citing the recent closure of three mills in western Oregon. But the federal government could help fill the gap by boosting timber harvests in national forests, the AFRC said, and make healthier forests in the process. “A logical outcome of historic Congressional investments to accelerate forest health treatments on millions of acres of at-risk Federal forests would be additional log supply,” said the AFRC.