The drop in employment and wages and salaries in the forest 

 industries is of great economic significance in the South. 

 The effects of reduced employment will be multiplied as 

 they spread through the trade, service, transportation, and 

 other sectors of the southern economy that provide goods 

 and services to the forestry sector. It is curently estimated, 

 for example, that a loss of one job in the lumber and wood 

 products industry would result in a decrease of 2.3 jobs 

 throughout the economy in the Southern States. A loss of 

 one job in the pulp and paper products industry would be 

 multipled 2.6 times as other parts of the economy were 

 affected. 



Rising real prices have other important implications. 

 Exports of most timber products will be constrained, and use 

 of substitute products such as concrete, steel, aluminum, 

 and plastic will increase above the levels that would have 

 otherwise prevailed. As production of these substitutes is 

 stepped up, more and more nonrenewable resources, 

 including the ore and fossil fuels used in their production, 

 will be removed from the Nation's finite supply. In 

 addition, the mining, industrial processing, and power 

 generation associated with increased use of timber substitutes 

 will result in more air and water pollution. 



Consumers — and this includes everyone in our society — 

 will be adversely affected by rising prices. Home buyers will 

 bear most of the increased costs both in terms of higher 

 prices and in adverse impacts on the number, size, and 

 quality of dwelling units built. 



Rising prices and the associated economic and 

 environmental impacts are not inevitable. They simply show 

 what is likely to happen if current expectations about the 

 future timber situation materialize. The development of the 

 South' s fourth forest can be managed, and the forest can 

 take almost any form desired. 



Consumers, and this includes everyone in 

 the society, will be adversely affected by 

 rising prices of stumpage and timber 

 products. Home buyers will bear most of the 

 increased costs, both in terms of dollar 

 costs and in the number, size, and quality 

 of units built. 



24 



