Projections of the U.S. timber supply and demand situation to 2050 : draft findings from the USDA Forest Service 2000 RPA Timber Assessment.

Abstract

The Draft RPA Timber Assessment projects, over the next 50 years, the likelihood of increasing abundance of softwoods in the South and decreasing abundance of hardwoods in the South. These trends in supply, along with projected contributions from the North and West, imply U.S. consumption needs could be met without increasing net product imports and would not increase softwood timber prices over the next 50 years. However, under this scenario, the adequacy of timber supplies depends on 1) continued expansion of softwood plantations with increased management intensity in the South, 2) moderation of hardwood use in the South, and 3) continued improvement in technology both to grow trees and to obtain more wood and paper product output per unit of timber input. The outlook has many forest management implications. For example, with relatively abundant supplies of wood fiber in the East, there would be little likelihood of expansion of pulp or OSB capacity in the West to use large volumes of small-diameter timber.

Citation

Haynes, Richard; Adams, Darius; Alig, Ralph; Brooks, David; Durbak, Irene; Howard, James; Ince, Peter; McKeever, David; Mills, John; Skog, Ken; Zhou, Xiaoping. 2001. Projections of the U.S. timber supply and demand situation to 2050 : draft findings from the USDA Forest Service 2000 RPA Timber Assessment. Proceedings of the 2000 Society of American Foresters national convention, Washington, DC, November 16-20, 2000. Bethesda, MD : Society of American Foresters, c2001: Pages 451-453.