If you live in any of the 13 Southern states that span Virginia to Texas, you can proudly say you live in the Wood Basket of the United States. In fact, more than 60% of the entire volume of the wood harvest in the United States comes from that one region.
The lumber industry in the United States is one of the primary, most vital renewable resources and a major economic driver. What you might not realize is how much of that is centered in the southern region in the country.
Not only do they provide a significant portion of output for the entire country, in spite of the fact that only 32% of the country’s forests are in that region. But, far more surprising, while they only make up two percent of forests globally, they provide almost 20% of the world’s pulp and paper products.
Aside from the impact lumber production in the southern states have on output, they are also major regional economic drivers with over 1,400 processing mills employing nearly 100,000 employees. The concentration of forest product jobs in the Southern U.S. and the industry’s tremendous economic impact means it’s imperative for local and regional communities to support the industry.
Source: https://www.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=7f8429df087e4c86951a7e69d93207a7
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