Billion square feet (%-inch basis) 
50 
40 
30 
20 
10 
1950 1960 1970 
Other types* 
Softwood plywood 
*Includes oriented strand board and waferboard. 
Figure 10—Structural panel consumption. 1950-86, with projections to 2040. 
faster than for lumber and plywood. 
The product mix of future demands 
will influence the way the Nation’s 
forests are managed in the coming 
decades (fig. 13). Consumption levels 
have been presented in the standard 
measurement units for the various 
products—board feet for lumber, 
square feet for plywood, and cords for 
pulpwood and fuelwood. In table 1, 
these are converted to cubic feet 
roundwood equivalent—the volume of 
roundwood needed from the Nation’s 
forests to produce the various products. 
Table 1—Roundwood supplies from 
U.S. timber resources, by softwoods 
and hardwoods, specified years, 
1952-86, with projections to 2040 
10 
1980 1990 2000 
Year Total Sottwoods Hardwoods 
Billion cubic feet, 
roundwood equivalent 
1952 9.5 6.9 2.6 
1962 9.6 7.1 2.5 
1970 11.5 8.7 2.8 
1976 125 9.5 3.0 
1986 18.0 11.7 6.3 
Projections 
2000 20.5 12.1 8.4 
2010 23.9 13.4 10.5 
2020 25.6 14.5 11.1 
2030 26.6 15.3 11.3 
2040 27.1 15.8 11.3 
Note: Does not include fuelwood from sources 
other than growing stock. 
2010 
2020 2030 2040 
Consumption of softwoods continues 
to grow through the projection period, 
reflecting a growing economy and 
repair and remodeling of an aging 
housing inventory. Also, experts 
believe that, over time, new houses will 
be bigger, consuming more lumber and 
structural panels than today’s new 
homes. By 2010, softwood timber 
consumption will be about 1.2 times 
consumption in 1986 and in 2040, 1.3 
times. 
Projected consumption of hardwood 
timber in 2010 will be some 1.7 times 
consumption in 1986 and in 2040, 1.8 
times, largely due to the rising 
demands of a growing economy. 
Demands for pulpwood, fuelwood, and 
