TIMBER MARKETS

ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES FOR SOUTHERN U.S FORESTS

THIS PAGE GENERATED BY CMS. It’s time to raise awareness of the variety of incentives that can help forest owners in the southern U.S. keep their land.Stretching more than 200 million acres from Texas to Virginia and from Kentucky to Florida, the forests of the southern United States provide billions of dollars worth of timber and other forest products each year as well as hundreds of thousands of jobs in the region.

Though they comprise just two percent of the planet’s forest cover, they generate more pulp for paper by volume than any nation outside the United States. They also control erosion, ensure clean supplies of freshwater, and offer numerous hunting, hiking, and other recreational opportunities. However, 31 million acres of these forests are expected to be lost to development between 1992 and 2040—an area the size of North Carolina.

What strategies can halt this loss? This month, the World Resources Institute (WRI), supported by Toyota, launched the first in a new series of issue briefs that explore incentives for ensuring that southern U.S. forests continue to supply the timber, water, recreation, and other benefits—known as “ecosystem services”—that people depend upon. The first brief, Keeping Forest as Forest, overviews a range of economic opportunities that are available to southern landowners.