VIRGINIA’S FORESTS

1 VIRGINIA S FORESTSOur Common WealthRevised 2001 ACKNOWLEDGMENTThe Department of Forestry wants to express its appreciation toAnn Lang, Virginia Employment Commission for her assistance in providingemployment and manufacturing documentation and reviewing this Niemann, Virginia Tourism Corporation for her assistance inproviding documentation on recreation Implan Group (MIG), Inc. for assistance with Implan Information Team for content, editing and review DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRYP repared ByCharles W. Becker IIIE dited ByJanet MuncyGraphic Design ByOffice of Graphic CommunicationsDepartment of General ServicesVIRGINIA S FORESTS OUR COMMON WEALTH5 THE ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OFVIRGINIA S forest RESOURCEST able of ContentsEXECUTIVE SUMMARY .. 6 INTRODUCTION .. 7 THE forest RESOURCE .. 8 Risks to the Resource .. 9 forest INDUSTRY ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTIONS .. 10 forest Management and Related Services .. 10 Harvesting .. 10 Primary Manufacturing.

2 11 Secondary Manufacturing .. 12 Value - Added .. 13 Economic Output .. 13 Survey of Virginia Manufacturers .. 14 Capital Investment and Employment .. 14 Export Markets .. 15 Tax Revenues .. 15 ECONOMIC BENEFITS TO LANDOWNERS .. 16 forest Products Revenues .. 16 Reforestation .. 17 Risk of Investment .. 17 SPECIALTY forest PRODUCTS .. 18 Horticulture and Christmas Tree Industry .. 18 Christmas Greenery Industry .. 19 Other forest Products .. 19 forest -RELATED VALUES .. 20 Wildlife - Related Recreation .. 20 forest - Related Recreation .. 20 Other Values .. 21 Water Quality and Erosion Control .. 21 Air Pollution and Carbon Dioxide .. 21 Improved Quality of Life .. 22 CONCLUSION .. 23 FOOTNOTES .. 24 VIRGINIA S FORESTS OUR COMMON WEALTH6 The economic importance of Virginia s forest resources and theincreasing demand for forest products are here to stay. At and growing, the state s population is placing even greaterdemands on our remaining forestlands and the resources theyprovide.

3 The sustained stewardship of the forest resources, andtheir contribution to the lives of the people of theCommonwealth is the mission of the Department of s FORESTS are the backbone to a strong economy andhealthy s forest products industry provides a vital source ofincome and jobs to many rural areas and smaller cities. Theharvesting, processing and marketing of forest products generatesover $ billionannually to Virginia s economy and accountsfor over 248,000 for growth in the forest products industry stillexist, especially in the areas of value-added products. Non-timberutilization of Virginia s FORESTS will also continue to conservation of the forest land base and a greaterknowledge of how FORESTS and people interact are necessaryif the benefits of forestlands are to be sustained. The Virginia Strategy - Prosperityinto the New Century states thatkey issues to maintain a thrivingforest industry include availability ofland, availability of capital, andawareness on the part of the generalpublic of the benefits of naturalresource based industries.

4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARYSOME MAJOR ATTRIBUTESAND BENEFITS OFVIRGINIA S FORESTS ANDITS forest INDUSTRY ARE:Virginia has 16 million acres offorestlandwith over million acresclassified as commercial private landownershold 77 percent of Virginia received over $345 millionin stumpage for their timber in harvesting contributes over $863millionannually to the and non-timber forest productscontribute over $60 millionannually toVirginia s recreational spendingcontributes more than $3 billionannually to sequestering and pollutioncontrol value exceeds $ $1 landowners receive for theirtimber generates $ of Value-Added toVirginia's its entirety, Virginia s Forestsprovide over $30 billion in benefitsannually to the S FORESTS OUR COMMON WEALTH7 The value of Virginia s FORESTS is many things to many people. Tosome, the value lies in the beauty of the FORESTS .

5 Landowners and theforest products industry consider the utilization of the resource as themost valuable asset. Whatever the value , we must recognize thatVirginia's FORESTS provide a renewable natural resource that extends fromharvesting timber to natural beauty. Whether it s a walk in the urbanforest or a hunter in the rural forest , all Virginians can enjoy thisresource as it continues to provide a necessary framework for our Virginia Department of Forestry, using the IMPLAN PROeconomic model for Virginia, has completed its fourth comprehensiveevaluation of Virginia's forestland. The first report was completed in1985 with revisions in 1988 and 1994. The availability of newinformation has made it possible to revise the forest economic numbers used are real and in those cases where estimates have beenused, the more conservative number was used when different estimateswere 's FORESTS still cover nearly two-thirds of the state, anextraordinary figure considering the overwhelming population growthin some areas.

6 Virginia stands to lose some of its resource base to futureurban growth. The importance of FORESTS in cleansing the air, purifyingour water, providing products, and fostering recreation opportunitiesmust be embraced as we begin the 21st century. Our Virginia standardof living depends on the abundance and stability of the forest the hardwood FORESTS in the majestic mountains to the pine forestsof the Chesapeake Bay, the role of FORESTS continues to be different foreach person. We must realize that as varied as our reasons for enjoyingforests are, a commonality exists among us all. This report substantiates that the value of Virginia's FORESTS is in Our Common WealthJames W. Garner, State Forester INTRODUCTIONVIRGINIA S FORESTS OUR COMMON WEALTHP resent ConditionVirginia is blessed with a multitude of forest resources. Of the acres of land, over 60 percent (16 million acres) is covered inforests, with the vast majority ( million acres) classified ascommercial forestland (timberland).

7 Nearly every county in Virginia hasabundant forestlands. In addition to commercial forestland, there areover 500,000 acres of non-commercial forestland including woodlandsand reserved FORESTS that provide numerous benefits such as: recreation,watershed protection, wildlife habitat, and preserves for unique better manage this resource, the Virginia Department of Forestry, incooperation with the USDA forest Service, conducts a forest Inventoryand Analysis (FIA) to characterize the condition of Virginia's of the current FIA should be available in 2002; the lastassessment was completed in 1992. Non-industrial private forest landowners (NIPF) own 77 percent ofthe commercial forestland (Figure 1), forest industry owns 10 percent,and the remaining 13 percent is owned by federal, state, and localgovernments1. Virginia s FORESTS are divided into five major timber types (Table 1).

8 Based on the 1992 forest Inventory, hardwood types cover 78 percentof the total forest acreage and pine types cover the remaining 22percent. The next inventory will probably show, for the first time, pineplantation acreage exceeding that of natural pines. Loblolly pine is thedominant conifer and yellow poplar is the most abundant hardwoodspecies, although oaks as a group outnumber yellow poplar in numberand most positive change in Virginia s forest over the last 50 years hasbeen in the volume of standing timber. From 1940 to 1992, the volumeof growing stock increased by 155 percent, from to billioncubic feet. Hardwood accounted for 85 percent and softwood for 15percent of the increase. This volume increase occurred while the forestscontinued to provide an increasing supply of sawtimber and pulpwoodto be manufactured into paper, furniture, cabinets, veneer, poles, posts,pilings, lumber for homes, and other products.

9 Today, we harvest billion board feet of sawtimber and three million cords of pulpwoodannually. In 1940, Virginia s timber resource could have providedenough lumber for two million homes. Today, we have enough timberfor more than six million homes. More significant is the fact that enoughtimber has been harvested in Virginia since 1940 to build over fivemillion homes 1,2, wonderful success story will continue only with a dedicatedeffort to conserve the forest land base and maintain high quality forestmanagement. According to The Virginia Strategy - Prosperity into the NewCentury , key issues include availability of land, availability of capital,8 TABLE 1 COMMERCIAL FORESTLAND TIMBER TYPESFOREST TYPEACRESU pland Hardwood9,518,571 Lowland Hardwood635,021 Oak-Pine1,941,207 Natural Pine1,880,427 Pine Plantations1,472,324 TOTAL .. 15,447,550 FIGURE 1 VIRGINIA TIMBERLAND OWNERSHIPTHE FORESTRESOURCEOWNERSHIPACRESP rivate.

10 11,909,501 Farmer (3,870,366)Private Individual (6,489,600)Other Corporate (1,549,535) forest Industry .. 1,554,763 National FORESTS .. 1,468,126 Government (other) .. 515,160 State, County, Municipal (293,881)Other Federal (221,279)TOTAL .. 15,447,550 NationalForest10%Government(other)3%Fore stIndustry10%Private77%VIRGINIA S FORESTS OUR COMMON WEALTH9and awareness on the part of the general public of the benefits of naturalresource based industries 3. Preliminary survey results indicate an average annual loss offorestland of 54,000 acres since 1992, up from a 20,000 acresannual loss during the previous survey period. Final estimates offorest loss, as well as estimated timber growth and removal rates, will beavailable later this to the ResourceVirginia s FORESTS are continually at risk from the adverse effects ofnative and exotic pests, severe weather, wildfire, and human outbreaks of native bark beetles have killed millions of dollarsworth of pine sawtimber at least once a decade since records haveexisted.