Timber Supply in the Southern Appalachians

Various factors may affect timber supplies, including the area of timberland, growing-stock volume, species, log quality, and the costs of timber harvesting (SAMAB 1996d).

Timberland Area

Of the 36.9 million acres in the southern Appalachian region, 23.6 million acres are timberland. Timberland is not spread evenly across the area.

;Of the 23.5 million acres of timberland, most (73 percent) is owned by nonindustrial private landowners. Government agencies hold 21 percent of the timberland in the region, and forest industry controls 6 percent. While nonindustrial private land has provided a 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. Thus, the actions of the regions national forests can hold more sway over markets than those of any other single landowner (SAMAB 1996d).

Timber Inventories

In 1996, SAMAB reported on the growing stock inventory for the southern Appalachian region and (Table: Growing Stock Inventory) showed that it contains about 39 billion cubic feet of growing stock, including about 175 billion board feet (International 1/4-inch log rule) of sawtimber. Spread across 23.6 million acres of timberland, the average stocking is about 1,700 cubic feet/acre, and about three-fourths of the growing stock is hardwood. Approximately 57 percent of hardwood and 63 percent of softwood growing stocks are sawtimber (SAMAB 1996d).

A comparison of growth, removals, and mortality indicates that total timber inventories expanded at an average annual rate of about 1.1 percent between the two most recent forest surveys. In contrast, total softwood inventories declined on private land in the assessment area, with all of the decline occurring in the southern Mountain and Piedmont subregion. These declines in natural pine inventories were offset by increases in plantation pine inventories. Net hardwood growth was strong throughout the region (SAMAB 1996d).

Timber Production

Sawlog and Pulpwood Production by Subregion

Total timber production in the southern Appalachians has generally been stable to expanding. Although sawlog production has been relatively stable for the region as a whole, hardwood sawlog production has fallen somewhat in the northern Ridge and Valley and Blue Ridge subregions. In contrast to sawlog production, pulpwood production has grown in the southern Appalachians; the pulpwood share of timber output increased between 1983 and 1990 from 49 to 53 percent. Spatial evaluation of timber production indicates that the biggest shift towards pulpwood production occurred in southwestern North Carolina and southeastern Tennessee (SAMAB 1996d).

Species Distribution of Sawlogs

In the southern Appalachians, 54 percent of sawtimber removals are hardwoods and 46 percent are softwoods. Hardwood production is spread over 17 species and species groups. However three species groups, red oaks, white oaks, and yellow- poplar account for nearly 80 percent of hardwood sawtimber removals in the region.

Oaks alone account for about 52 percent of production. Softwood production is dominated by yellow pines, which account for 77 percent of regional softwood production. White pine represents an additional 20 percent, while all other softwoods comprise only 3 percent. The softwood:hardwood ratio increases from north to south within the region (SAMAB 1996d).

Pulpwood Production by County

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sawtimber Quality

The most valuable portion of the timber inventory is high-quality sawtimber. Grade 1 logs sometimes are four to five times more valuable than grade 3 logs. The sawtimber inventory in the region shows most sawtimber is in grades 2 and 3.  National forests contain a disproportionate share of high-quality hardwood sawtimber.  For example, 44 percent of the

grade 1 select red oak sawtimber and 24 percent of the select white oak sawtimber are on national forests. National forests also control a disproportionate share of high-quality softwood sawtimber, but generally in areas where softwood sawlogs are a minor part of the market. In contrast, the national forests control a relatively small portion of the high-quality yellow-poplar sawtimber (SAMAB 1996d).

Other Wood Products

Southern Appalachian forests yield several important wood products in addition to sawlogs and pulpwood. Two in particular, veneer and composite board material, are important components of production. Veneer logs are used primarily to produce plywood panels; their prices exceed those for high-quality sawlogs. While plywood production has been declining in the United States, veneer log production in the southern Appalachians grew steadily between 1983 and 1992. A full 90 percent of the veneer logs

harvested in 1992 were hardwoods, reflecting a strong market for hardwood plywood (SAMAB 1996d).

While veneer logs often represent competition for the highest quality sawlogs, composite board material is produced from low-quality trees. Its manufacturers therefore compete directly with pulpmills for raw materials. Composite board material represents an important emerging industry in the southern Appalachians. Prior to the mid-1980s, practically no composite board material was harvested in the southern Appalachians. Since then, annual composite board production has grown to 17 million cubic feet, which is equivalent to roughly 7 percent of pulpwood production in the region. The area with the greatest growth in the composite board production is southwestern Virginia, a region with historically low pulpwood production levels (SAMAB 1996d).

Costs of Timber Harvesting

In a mountainous area like the southern Appalachians, the cost of harvesting and hauling timber is an important determinant of timber value. It may be impractical to harvest even the highest valued log if it is located on a severe slope or in a remote location. In the southern Appalachians, a majority of the growing-stock inventory (64 percent) is on slopes less than 35 percent, but only 54 percent of grade 1 sawtimber is on slopes less than 35 percent. Slope and cost profiles

indicate that not all timber inventories are equally accessible. In general, the terrain on national forests is steeper than on private land. As a result, logging costs are higher and timber production is lower. Access costs may be prohibitive on a large share of timberland (SAMAB 1996d).