Authored by Rick Oates, Alabama State Forester, and Chair of the National Association of State Foresters’ Forest Markets Committee
In honor of National Forest Products Week, we’ve been celebrating the value of forest products and their contributions to society. Since 1960, the week-long celebration (beginning on the third Sunday of October) has been observed across our nation. President Dwight Eisenhower was the first U.S. president to recognize this week and every president since (including President Joe Biden) has followed suit.
Why use Forest Products?
From the cardboard boxes used to ship online orders across the world, to the cellulose found in everything from smartphones to toothpaste, forest products are used every day by everyone. What’s more, forest-derived goods are an environmentally friendly choice. They are less carbon-intensive to produce than other materials like concrete, plastic, and steel, and all of the carbon stored in wood products (like paper, pallets, and lumber used in building construction) remains sequestered throughout the product’s lifetime.
How do Forest Products Benefit Consumers?
The forest products industry contributes billions of dollars to the U.S. economy annually and makes up 5% of the U.S. manufacturing Gross Domestic Product (GDP). According to the American Forest and Paper Association, forestry and forest products industries in the U.S. directly employ upwards of 925,000 people, making this sector among the top 10 manufacturing employers in 43 states. More than 75% of all U.S. pulp and paper mills are in counties that are more than 80% rural.
In my home state of Alabama, forestlands represent 66% of the total land base totaling 23.1 million acres. 93% of these forestlands are privately owned. Timber is one of the state’s most valuable agricultural crops, contributing $36.1 billion to the state’s economy and directly employing over 123,000 people with an annual payroll of $7.9 billion. In addition to benefiting the state’s economy, forests and trees provide human health benefits, carbon sequestration, ecosystem services, and recreational opportunities. Healthy forests truly make for healthy lives.
Who is Leading the Way?
Since its start in 1920, the National Association of State Foresters (NASF) has served as a leading authority on forest management in the United States. NASF’s membership is composed of the directors of forestry agencies in the 50 states, five U.S. territories, three nations in compacts of free association with the U.S., and the District of Columbia. Through its members, referred to as “State Foresters,” the association advocates for federal legislation and national policies that promote the health, resilience, and productivity of both rural and urban forests. Learn more about NASF’s policies.
The USDA Forest Service also provides strong leadership in strengthening existing forest markets and encouraging the development of new forest markets through technical assistance and their three core grant programs: Wood Innovations, Community Wood, and Wood Products Infrastructure Assistance. We are delighted to report the USDA Forest Service is funding three new major regional grants to enhance forest markets during the National Forest Products Week celebration. These grants will support and expand the capacity of the regional State Forester’s utilization and marketing programs to address forest product markets and their role in improving forest management. The recipients and funding levels are:
- $500,000 Council of Western State Foresters – Forest Products Committee
- $500,000 Northeast-Midwest State Foresters Alliance – Forest Markets & Utilization Committee
- $500,000 Southern Group of State Foresters – Services, Utilization & Marketing Committee
For more information on upcoming funding opportunities and the work the USDA Forest Service is doing to encourage strong forest markets, click this link.
Good Markets are Critical to Good Forest Management
Markets for wood products are a consistent need and affect many sectors of the wood products economy, including lumber, mass timber, engineered wood products, pulp and paper, renewable wood energy, biofuels, biochar, and other innovative wood products. The economic status of each forest products sector (e.g., logging, hardwood and softwood sawmills, bioenergy, value-added products) is impacted by both unique and overlapping challenges including housing starts, commercial lending, non-wood material substitution, labor markets, housing costs, electronic publishing and communication, insurance rates, fuel costs, public policy, and many others.
NASF supports policies and programs that support strengthening existing markets and industry and creating new markets for both hardwood and softwood emerging products for construction, packaging, energy, bioremediation, soil and agricultural amendments and others. NASF recently updated our policy statement on Markets for Wood Products and Their Positive Impact on Forest Resource Management.
Keeping forestland as working forests is paramount to the ability of our forests to provide the economic, environmental, and social benefits that are essential to society. To retain and properly care for their forests, landowners need sources of revenue. Though forests can provide other forms of economic return—such as recreation, appreciated land values and ecosystem services—harvesting trees for wood products is the predominate source of revenue for forest owners. This revenue system has the added benefit of generating economic opportunities for businesses, whose earnings are often re-invested in the forest. These businesses are the economic foundation for many local communities. For this reason, NASF believes it is important to support and strengthen existing industry while conducting research and development of new markets for wood fiber. Having highly diverse markets increases the options for management by allowing the landowner to remove those trees of a certain size and/or species under plans that are more likely to result in improved health and vigor.
Commercial harvests make long-term forest sustainability possible. Strong timber markets create opportunities for private and public landowners, to provide the economic, environmental, and social benefits that we all depend on. Yet, their desired outcomes – wildlife habitat, forest health, tree species diversity, fire risk reduction – are often best accomplished through tree removal and where tree removal generates revenue more harvest and reforestation activities can be accomplished. Other desired outcomes, such as carbon storage and access and recreational developments, could benefit from a source of revenue as well. Successful outreach to landowners that brings them in contact with trusted forestry advice are 13% to 17% more likely to intend to harvest timber in the next 5 years. And landowners who have harvested timber are more likely to have improved wildlife habitat on their land.[1]
State Forestry Agencies
State forestry agencies are the primary delivery system for forest management activities nationwide. They conserve, enhance, and protect state and private forests, which encompass nearly two-thirds of the nation’s forests, and are responsible for wildfire protection on more than 1.5 billion acres. Learn more about NASF’s membership in the latest state forestry agency statistics survey.
You can celebrate National Forest Products Week by learning more about the climate benefits of wood products and active forest management, getting to know just how many products you use that come from our forests, or by visiting a local, state, or national forest.
To learn more about what your state is doing to actively manage healthy forests near you, contact your state forestry agency.
[1] Evaluation of the Effectiveness and Reach of the Educational Programs and Technical Assistance Activities of the U.S. Forest Service, Forest Stewardship Program. Technical Report. June 2013. B Butler et. al.