The Timber Industry

A vibrant timber industry based on sustained timber growth and production in second-growth forests thrives in the Southern Appalachians. Results of the Southern Appalachian Assessment (SAMAB) indicate that total timber production has generally been stable to expanding in recent decades and that timber market demands are strong for both the highest and the lowest quality timber in the region (SAMAB 1996d).

Timber supply from the southern Appalachians is exchanged in several markets. Southern portions of the region produce large quantities of softwood sawtimber to manufacture structural lumber. The central and northern portions of the region produce hardwood sawtimber for both aesthetic uses such as furniture, cabinets, and flooring, and industrial uses such as pallets. Throughout the southern Appalachians, low-quality timber is used to make paper and packaging material. All these markets, along with smaller but still important markets for composite board material and veneer logs, define perhaps the most complex interaction of timber markets in the United States (SAMAB 1996d).

The three major types of forest ownerships in the southern Appalachians are public, forest industry, and nonindustrial private. Of the 23.5 million acres of timberland, government agencies hold 21 percent, and forest industry controls 6 percent. The individuals, corporations, and government agencies that manage land in the southern Appalachians vary widely in their goals and approaches to timber management. While nonindustrial private land has provided the majority of timber produced in the past, it is often considered the most volatile portion of timber supply. The USDA Forest Service is the areas largest single landholder and its actions can hold more sway over markets than those of any other single landowner (SAMAB 1996d).  The area of forest land under private ownership declined about 1 percent between 1982-1992. This loss was mainly due to development, which increased by more than 600,000 acres over the same decade.

Increasingly, forest values other than timber are controlling the ways in which forests are utilized in the southern Appalachians. Often the values of watershed protection, scenery for tourists, wildlife habitats, and suitable sites for recreation are determining when and where timber is harvested as part of a multi-objective management plan. Clearing of forest for nonforest development is considered very different from timber harvesting as part of a sustainable forest management plan.  Ongoing changes in the demographics and landscape of the southern Appalachians could reshape the timber economy (SAMAB 1996d).