Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Adam H. Putnam announced today the results of a forestry inventory of Florida’s nearly 17 million acres of forestland. The study, led by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Florida Forest Service, evaluated the distribution, availability, ownership and sustainability of Florida’s timber resources. Florida’s forestry industry employs 80,700 Floridians and infuses $16.3 billion into the state’s economy.
“This study confirms that Florida’s forest owners are good stewards of the land, taking excellent care of their working forests so that they are available for future generations,” Commissioner Adam H. Putnam said.
Findings from the 2015 Comprehensive Statewide Forest Inventory Analysis Study update include:
• Forests cover nearly 17 million acres, or 47 percent of land in the state.
• Forty-nine percent of forest area is pine, 45 percent is hardwood or mixed hardwood-pine, and 6 percent is cypress.
• Almost 90 percent of state’s 8.3 million acres of pine occur in North Florida.
• Nearly two-thirds of Florida’s forests are privately owned, with the highest proportions of private ownership in the northern part of the state.
• Federal, state, county and municipal governments own 34 percent of forest land.
• There are 62 primary active wood-using mills in Florida. The most common are sawmills, mulch, chip-and-saw and pulp mills.
• Pine pulpwood is in the highest demand among all timber products, followed by pine sawtimber.
• Cypress forests showed slight increase in acreage while mangroves held steady between the original 2013 and 2015 release of the study.
The Florida Legislature required the original Comprehensive Statewide Forest Inventory Analysis Study in 2012. The 2015 update focuses on mapping forestland cover, identifying forestland ownership and analyzing the growth and demand for timber resources. To view the Comprehensive Statewide Forest Inventory Analysis Study in its entirety, visit FreshFromFlorida.com/Forest_Inventory.