Dogwood Alliance

The Southern Forest Resource Assessment :

2-Year US Forest Service Study Verifies the Southern Forests Face Substantial Threats from Industrial Forestry

By Dogwood Alliance

The Southern Forest Resource Assessment (SFRA) was initiated in 1999 by the US Forest Service in response to growing public concern about accelerated clearcutting and conversion of the South's forests to plantations in the wake of an expanding paper industry. The two-year study, released on November 26, 2001, contains useful information on the likely fate of Southern forests if current trends within the wood products industry continue. While the USFS highlights sprawl as the biggest threat to Southern forests, data in the SFRA document that the expansion of industrial forestry is equally threatening. In fact, the loss of forests to sprawl magnifies the impacts of the timber industry as remaining natural forests become even more important for sustaining water quality, wildlife habitat, scenic beauty, and recreation as well as value-added, locally owned wood products industries.

The report's picture of the current status of the Southern forest verifies that it is currently in a state of decline from the combined effects of urban sprawl and the wood products industry. For example:

• · The area of natural forest across the South declined from 356 million acres in colonial times to 182 million acres today.
• · Half of the forested wetlands of the South (35 million acres) have been lost.
• · Natural pine forests declined from 72 million acres in 1953 to 34 million acres in 1999.
• · Pine plantations have been displacing natural forests for the past 50 years and now occupy 32 million acres (15 percent) of the current Southern “forest.”
• · Fourteen forest communities (such as the longleaf pine ecosystem) across the South have declined to occupy only 2% of their original range.
• · There are more threatened forested ecosystems in the South than any other region of the country.

The report predicts continued, accelerated declines of various aspects of the Southern forest under an assumed continuation and expansion of industrial forestry and urbanization.

Specifically, the SFRA documents that the South produces more wood products than any other country in the world and that 60% of the logging in the US occurs in the South. While all sectors of the southern wood products market have expanded, the SFRA documents that the expansion in the paper industry has been pronounced, as evidenced by a dramatic increase in the logging of pulpwood (immature trees not yet of value to the solid wood industries).

Pulpwood used to make up only a fraction of the wood products market, however today it is the number one wood commodity in the South. The report implicitly documents that production of paper and chipboard (engineered lumber products, such as Oriented Strand Board - “OSB”) results in more “intensive” forest management (short rotations, chemical applications, plantations) and that Southern forests have become more intensively managed over recent years.

Clearcutting and other similar forms of even-aged industrial cutting dominate forestry practices across the South. According to the report, over 2 million acres of forests are clearcut each year and an additional 3.3 million acres are cut using seed-tree or shelterwood methods. In effect, 5.3 million acres of forests are heavily logged each year across the South.

Logging is projected to increase by 50 percent to over 8 million acres a year by 2040, as the South is expected to supply an increasing share of pulp and engineered wood products. The SFRA documents that removals of pines currently exceed growth throughout the region, that removals of hardwoods will exceed growth by 2025 and that the area of Southern forests in intensively managed pine plantations will increase to 52 million acres, making up approximately one in every four acres of the South's forest.

From the North Carolina to Texas coasts, pine plantations are projected to be the largest single forest management type. The report documents an 800% increase in the use of chemical fertilizers in plantations since 1990 and projects a doubling in the use of chemical fertilizers through 2040. The SFRA concludes that “pine plantations generally provide poor wildlife habitat” and that the long-term ecological implications of such wide-scale industrial tree plantations are uncertain.

If these USFS projections hold true, through 2040 at least 270 million acres of southern forests will be cut, approximately 64 million acres will be sprayed with toxic chemicals, the area of natural forests will decline by 25 million acres, and the South will gain another 22 million acres in industrial plantations. The large-scale industrial forestry practices that create these trends are what the timber industry and USFS call “sustainable forestry.” Combined with a projected loss of 30 million acres of forest to sprawl, the future of the South's landscape, as set forth by the USFS in the SFRA -- shopping malls, parking lots, clearcuts and pine plantations - is cause for concern.

In addition to impacts on the structure and make-up of forest ecosystems, data presented in the SFRA suggest that an expanding wood products industry, specifically an expanding paper industry, is eroding the South's economic base, and doing little to create a foundation that can support other, sustainable businesses. The report documents that where the paper industry is concentrated, the median household income is relatively low, unemployment and poverty is high, and a relatively low proportion of the population have completed high school. Conversely, areas where value-added, solid wood production is concentrated are economically better off, according to the report. Finally, the report verifies that despite expansions in the industry and increased logging across the South, the wood products industry's share of employment in the South dropped from 3.5% in 1969 to 1.93% in 1997.

On the other hand, tourism-related industries, most of which rely on natural amenities to draw users, are increasing in all 13 States. In 1997, outdoor-recreation-based tourism contributed between 0.64 and 2.88 percent of southern jobs. And, where the forest-related recreation and tourism sector is concentrated, economic conditions are more favorable than areas where the wood products sectors is located. Recreation opportunities on public lands (which make up only a small fraction of Southern forests) will become increasingly congested as demand for recreation opportunities will continue to climb. This economic data suggests that there are not only unsound ecological tradeoffs involved with a continued expansion in the paper industry, but also serious economic tradeoffs as well.

1. I. Current Status of the Southern Forest and Wood Products Industry
   1. A. Expanding Wood Products Industry
      1. · The South produces more wood products that any other country in the world and it is projected to be the dominant producing region for many decades to come. (TIMBER - Section 1.1)
      2. · Timber production more than doubled between 1953 and 1997. (Summary - Section 2.3)
      3. · End uses for harvested wood have evolved over the years, with the mix of uses moving from solid wood outputs, such as lumber, to a greater share of composite products, such as particle board and paper. (TIMBR 1- Section 5)
      4. · Pulpwood used to make up only a fraction of the wood products market, however today it is the number one wood commodity in the South followed by saw timber, fuelwood, and veneer respectively. (TIMBR 1-- Section 5.1.3 Figure 14)
      5. · Another way that producers of timber products in the South have adapted to rising demands, ... is the chipping of wood at satellite locations. This process is controversial because it encourages harvesting in areas not previously subject to harvesting and encourage[s] clearcutting, especially of natural management types that before were harvested in a different way. (TIMBR-1 - Section 5.1.3)
      6. · Since 1953, hardwood pulpwood has experienced the greatest increase in product share, growing from 3 to 16 percent of output. (Summary - Section 3.2)
      7. · Chip mills processed about 27 percent of the pulpwood in the South in 1999 (Hyldahl and others 2000). In 1999, approximately 42 percent was softwood and 58 percent was hardwood. (TIMBR-1 - Section 5.1.3)
      
      
   2. B. Unsustainable Cutting Levels
      1. · The South provides 60 percent of the timber cut in the United States. (TIMBR-1 - Section 1)
      2. · Over 5.3 million acres of Southern forests were logged in 1999. Clearcutting occurred on about 2 million acres annually. Upland hardwood accounts for 38 percent of harvested land, and is followed by planted pine with 22 percent. Partial cutting [i.e., 2-3 stage clearcut-does not include uneven age management] is much more widespread, occurring on about 3.3 million acres annually. (TIMBR-2 - Section 5.1)
      3. · The use of thinning compared to “even-aged” timber cutting is minimal. (See, TIMBER 2 Section 5.1 - 640,000 acres thinned.)
      4. · Since 1990, removals of softwoods have surpassed growth by about 10 percent. (Summary - Section 3.2)
   
   
   3. C. Expanding Pine Plantations
      1. · Plantations expanded 1,600 percent from 1953 to 1999. Pine plantations, currently occupy 32 million acres, comprising 15 percent of all Southern “forests” (an area the size of North Carolina). (Summary - Section 3.2.2)
      2. · While the total area of timberland in the South has remained relatively stable, forest types have changed (Figure 3.2.4) . . . The area of natural pine has declined from about 72 million acres in 1953 to about 34 million acres in 1999. Planted pine has increased from about 2 million acres in 1953 to more than 32 million acres in 1999. (Summary - Section 3.2.2)
      3. · Between the 1980s and 1990s, most pine plantations were established on land that was previously hardwood or mixed pine-hardwood forests (47 percent) or natural pine forests (28 percent). (SFRA Executive Summary at 6)
      4. · Pine plantations generally provide “poor wildlife habitat.” (TERRA-4 -- Section 5.2.2.4)
      5. · High stocking rates (700-1000 seedlings/acre), increasing use of fertilizers and herbicides, reduction of fire as a management tool, among other management changes, essentially have eliminated many of the benefits for early successional species of wildlife that were formerly provided in pine plantations that were less efficiently managed. Declining trends continue for important species like northern bobwhite, American woodcock, and many species of high-priority nongame migratory birds associated with early successional habitats (Capel and others 1994, Krementz and Jackson 1999, Hunter and others 2001). (TERRA-4 - Section 5.2.2.4)
      6. · Overall mortality rates for softwoods have increased from about 0.6 percent of inventory per year in the 1960s to 1.0 percent per year in the 1990s. Pine mortality is expected to remain high, especially at the periphery of the natural range of many pine species--for example, in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia. (Summary - Section 3.3.1.1)
   
   
   4. D. Increased Use of Chemicals
      1. · Nearly 1.6 million acres of planted pine were fertilized in 1999, representing an increase from 1990 of nearly 800 percent. (TIMBR-2 - Section 5.1)
      2. · Nearly 10 million acres were fertilized in the South since 1969. This area is estimated to exceed the sum of forest fertilization in the rest of the world taken together. (TMBR-2 - Section 5.1)
      3. · Complete data on herbicide application were not available, but limited information suggests that herbicides might be applied on about 1.5 million acres annually. (TIMBR-2 - Section 5.1)
   
   
   5. E. Loss of Native Forests
      1. · Natural forests have declined from their original extent of some 356 million acres to approximately 182 million acres (i.e., 214 million acres of “forest” - 32 million acres of pine plantations), occupying only about 50 percent of their pre-European settlement extent. (See, Executive Summary, pages 1-2)
      2. · Longleaf pine, which historically dominated Coastal Plain sites from southern Virginia to eastern Texas covering 40 percent of the entire region, has declined by more than 98 percent (TERRA-1 - Section 4.3.2)
      3. · Several forest communities have become limited to only a tiny portion of their original range and thus may be disproportionately impacted by future changes. There are 14 critically endangered forest communities (where losses of more than 98 percent of their area have occurred since European settlement) and 25 endangered forest communities in the South (losses between 85 and 98 percent of area). (Summary - Section 3.3.2)
      4. · Across the South, 54 amphibians, 40 reptiles, 20 birds, and 18 mammals are classified as imperiled. (Summary - Table 3.3.1)
      5. · The area of natural pine has declined from about 72 million acres in 1953 to about 34 million acres in 1999 (SFRA Summary, Section 3.2.2). Planted pine increased from about 2 million acres in 1953 to 32 million acres in 1999.
      6. · The Southeastern United States has the highest number of endangered ecosystems of any region of the country. More than 30 percent of all natural plant communities throughout the Southeast are critically endangered and the Southeast has the highest proportion of imperiled plant communities in the United States, exclusive of Hawaii. The majority of rare communities in the Southeast are rare because of habitat alteration or degradation. (TERRA-2 -- Section 4.2)
   
   
   6. F. Loss of Wetlands and Water Quality
      1. · The number of river miles assessed that were impaired rose from 26 to 45 percent during the 10-year period 1988-1998 -- to 104,220 miles out of 231,688 total miles. (AQUA-1 - Section 5.2.2.1)
      2. · There is very little information available on the cumulative effects of past and ongoing timber harvesting and management on overall watershed health. (AQUA-1 and AQUA-2)
      3. · Forest practices or other activities that disturb habitats along streams can have a disproportionately significant impact on certain aquatic species. (Summary - Section 3.4.4)
      4. · Roughly half of the South's forested wetlands were lost between colonial times (1780) and the 1990s (35 million of the original total of 70 million acres). (Summary - Section 3.4.4)
   
   
   7. G. Economic Trends
      1. · Increasing concentration in the pulp and paper industry is negatively correlated with a number of economic sectors, including manufacturing, wholesale, retail and finance, insurance, and real estate (SOCIO 7 -- Section 5.3).
      2. · The pulp and paper sector is also concentrated in areas where median household income is relatively low, a relatively high percent of the labor force is unemployed, a relatively high proportion of the population is living in poverty, and a relatively low proportion of the population have completed high school. Overall, these indicators suggest that this industry is concentrated in areas with limited economic opportunities. (SOCIO-7 -- Section 5.2).
      3. · Economic opportunities are relatively limited where the forest products industry is concentrated because the high-paying jobs promised by industry representatives and their local government partners never materialized for the majority nor a broad spectrum of the population. (SOCIO-7 -- Section 7.6).
      4. · Economic conditions in areas where the secondary wood products sector is concentrated are not as bad as where concentrations of the pulp and paper or primary wood products sectors are located (SOCIO-7 -- Section 7.5.2).
      5. · The percentages of State-level jobs and income in wood products have generally declined since 1969 (SOCIO-5 -- Key Finding).
      6. · The percentage of State-level jobs and income in the tourism-related sectors is increasing in all 13 States, as are the actual numbers of jobs and amount of income. In 1997, outdoor-recreation-based tourism contributed between 0.64 and 2.88 percent of southern jobs (SOCIO-5 -- Key Finding).
      7. · The forest-related recreation and tourism sector is concentrated in areas that are economically more favorable than areas where the wood products sectors is located. (SOCIO-7 -- Section 5.2)
      8. · Only 4.6 percent of Federal land and 12 percent of State park and forest lands are in the South (21.4 million acres total). Since the South has about 33 percent of the Nation's population, recreation pressures on public lands are substantial. (Summary -- Section 3.1.4).
   
   


2. II. Projections for the Future of Southern Forests Under an Expanding Wood Products Industry
   1. A. Expanding Wood Products Industry
      1. · Models described in TIMBR-1 forecast that timber production in the United States will increase by roughly a third between 1995 and 2040. Nearly all production increases will come from the South. The South's timber production is forecast to increase by 56 percent for softwoods and by 47 percent for hardwoods between 1995 and 2040. (Summary - Section 2.3)
      2. · Privately owned forests in the United States will be more intensively managed and will be expected to produce an increasing share of small-diameter materials for pulp and composite wood products. (TIMBR-1 - Section 5.2.2)
      3. · By 2050, the South is projected to provide 60 percent of all U.S. fiber production. To a large degree, high productivity of southern softwood plantations is what makes this increase possible. (Timber 1 - Section 5.2.2)
      4. · The emergence of timber production in new areas is expected to lead to debate over appropriate forest uses. This factor, combined with timber harvest forecasts indicate that such debates may occur in parts of the Piedmont areas of North Carolina and in central Tennessee, Kentucky, and parts of Virginia. We see evidence of this in recent debates over chip mills in these states. (Summary - Section 3.1.5)
   
   
   2. B. Unsustainable Cutting Levels
      1. · The annual acreage cut will increase to 8 million acres between 1999 and 2040 At this increased rate, 270 million acres will be cut between 1999 and 2040 - an area that is almost one-third greater than the forested land currently existing in the South. (See TIMBER 2)
      2. · In the 1990s, in many parts of the South, softwood removals slightly exceeded growth. The projections shown here reflect a turnaround in this situation, although for some States this may take another two decades. The turnaround is attributable to large investments in pine plantations that are growing faster than they are being harvested. (TIMBR-1 -- Section 5.2.3)
      3. · In absolute terms (volume per year), the story is more mixed. Large volume increases are projected in some places that have always been major producing regions (Georgia, Alabama, and Louisiana) and in some that have not (parts of the Piedmont and mountains of North Carolina and Virginia, central Tennessee, and the Ozarks of Arkansas). Even parts of the South projected to lose forest area will have rises in softwood harvests. (TIMBR-1 -- Section 5.2.3)
      4. · For hardwoods, the lack of a technology that substantially increases growth means that growth is projected to stay ahead of removals for only two to three decades, after which hardwood inventory is projected to decline. In the Base Case scenario, growth is projected to exceed removals until about 2025, when removals overtake growth. Much of the high rate of removals increases can be ascribed to a growing demand for hardwood fiber for engineered wood products, especially structural and nonstructural wood panels (Haynes and others 2001) (TIMBR-1 - Section 5.2.3)
   
   
   3. C. Expansion of Pine Plantations
      1. · Pine plantations will increase by 60 percent to 54 million acres by 2040 to comprise one-quarter of all Southern “forests” (an area the size of North and South Carolina combined). These pine plantations are forecast to be managed for short rotation timber production. (see TIMBR-1)
      2. · All States except Kentucky are projected to gain at least 45 percent in pine plantation area by 2040 compared to 1995, with the largest percentage gains in Tennessee (120 percent), Arkansas (117 percent), and Alabama (89 percent). (TMBR 1 - Section 5.2.3)
      3. · If assumed increases in productivity in pine plantations are not achieved, the area of pine plantations could grow from 32 million acres to 58 million acres by 2040. (TIMBR-1).
      4. · Plantations established on converted agricultural sites lack the biological legacies of earlier forests (TERRA-4).
   
   
   4. D. Increased Use of Chemicals
      1. · Intensive management techniques in pine plantations will result in large increases in acres of forest land fertilized (an estimated 3.2 million acres per year) and managed with intensive pesticide and herbicide use (an estimated 1.5 million acres per year). (TIMBER 2- Section 5)
      2. · Fertilization will likely become even more popular in the future as new, more intensive silvicultural systems are introduced. About 34 million acres of planted pine could be fertilized at least twice during the rotation, resulting in a doubling of chemical fertilization from today's levels. (TIMBR 2 - Section 5.1)
      
      
   5. E. Loss of Native Forest and Environmental Values
      1. · Harvesting in new areas also leads to changes in local forest conditions that can change wildlife habitat and landscape aesthetics. (TIERRA-1 and SOCIO-7)
      2. · Natural forests will continue to decline from their original extent of some 356 million acres to approximately 154 million acres (i.e., 208 million acres of “forest” - 54 million acres of pine plantations) by 2040, occupying only about 43 percent of their original range. (See Executive Summary, pages 1 and 6)
      3. · It is critical to halt further losses of critically endangered and threatened forest communities and the species that depend on them. The future of a majority of these sensitive species and communities in the South depends on active restoration and management. Restoration complements species conservation by maintaining habitat composition, structure, and function. (TERRA-1 -- Section 5.1)
      4. · Rare forest communities -- and the species that depend on them for survival -- will continue to shrink to under continued stress, and a number of threatened or endangered species may become extinct (54 amphibians, 40 reptiles, 20 birds, and 18 mammals are classified as imperiled). (Summary - Table 3.3.1)
   
   
   6. F. Economic Trends
      1. · Increased demand for outdoor recreation will likely be placed on public lands. There is a trend toward increasing scarcity of recreational opportunities. Recreation areas on public land will likely be increasingly congested, and competition between various recreation user groups for limited area is forecast to increase based on forecast population growth. (Summary - Section 3.1.4)
      2. · Demands for recreation opportunities are growing very rapidly. (SOCIO-6 -- Section 2).
   
   
   7. G. Cumulative Effects
      1. · Forces of Change described in the SFRA interact and often have compound effects. (Summary - Section 2.7) Timber harvesting and management and other human influences, such as atmospheric pollution, exclusion of fire from fire-dependent communities, and the introduction of exotic plants, diseases, and insects continue to reshape the composition, productivity, and ecological function of forests. As a result, the extent, structure, and health of forests of the South are changing and will continue to change in the future.