The cold days of January may seem a strange time to think about forestry in Louisiana, but this is the time for commercial tree planting during our dormant season. It is also when we celebrate Arbor Day and a good time to catch up on the “State of the Forest.”
Trees cover half of our state and forests are the single greatest land use in Louisiana. It is still the most valuable agricultural crop although tree farmers certainly don’t have a harvest every year. The latest figures from the LSU AgCenter show forestry is an $11 billion industry providing about 45,000 jobs in the state and generating about $700 million in state and federal taxes.
So who owns our forests? That story has not changed in Louisiana. Like most of the Southern states, Louisiana has most of its timberland owned by small private landowners. The average landowner is over 55 years of age and has 40 acres or less. Most of our forest manufacturers have spun off their forestlands and some of those properties are owned by investment groups who manage them.
At the Louisiana Forestry Association we work with landowners, manufacturers, foresters and loggers to ensure that our forests will be here today and sustainably managed for future generations. We see no problem here. In fact, the economic downturn in 2008 was a great hardship on forestry much as the devastating hurricanes of Katrina and Rita were. Most of our landowners need an economic reason to keep their land forested even as they enjoy all the other benefits such as recreation, wildlife management and family legacies.
We are on the rebound now although our solid wood products like lumber, engineered wood, plywood and oriented strand board still have room to grow when our housing starts pick up more. But our pulpwood use is back to pre-recession levels and with at least two pellet mills beginning operations this year we will see that use expand.
From The Town Talk: https://www.thetowntalk.com/story/opinion/2015/01/22/buck-vandersteen-state-louisianas-forests/22127473/