As with timberland area, the timber inventory is concen- 
trated on the other private ownerships—these contain 73 
percent of the hardwood and 61 percent of the softwood 
inventories. Another 16 percent of the hardwood inventory 
and 26 percent of the softwood inventory were on forest 
industry ownerships. Most of the remaining inventories 
were on the national forests. 
4. Timber is the most important agricultural crop in 
the South. It has twice the value of soybeans or cotton 
and three times the value of tobacco, wheat, or corn. 
In 1984, an estimated 7.5 billion cubic feet of roundwood 
timber products—sawlogs, veneer logs, pulpwood, fuel- 
wood, and other round products—were harvested from the 
forests in the South. Over 5 billion cubic feet of this vol- 
ume came from softwood species, primarily southern pine, 
and nearly 2.5 billion cubic feet came from a variety of 
hardwood species. The value of standing timber or the trees 
from which these products were cut in 1984 was over $3 
billion, $2.7 billion for softwoods and $0.4 billion for 
hardwoods. This amount, the stumpage value, represents the 
value that landowners received from the sale of timber. 
When the value added from harvesting the timber and trans- 
porting it to rail sidings, concentration yards, or other local 
points of delivery is included, the value of roundwood tim- 
ber output in the South was $6.1 billion in 1984. The value 
of softwood products was approximately $4.5 billion, that 
of hardwood products, $1.6 billion. The $6.1 billion of 
roundwood timber products in 1984 was twice the value 
of soybeans or cotton produced and three times the value of 
tobacco, wheat, or corn crops in the South (all values at 
local points of delivery). With a few exceptions, the value 
of the timber harvest exceeded the value of these crops 
State by State as well. Compared to total production 
Southwide, there was $1 of roundwood timber output for ev- 
ery $3 dollars of other crop production. 
Timber harvested in 1984 ranked among the top three 
agricultural crops in terms of value of production in ail 12 
Southern States. It was first in value in six States— 
Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, 
and Louisiana. In Alabama, roundwood timber products al- 
most equaled in value the total for all other crops. In the 
other five States, the value of roundwood products was 
equivalent to two-fifths to three-fifths of other crop values. 
5. Employment and income in the forest industries in 
the South exceed those in other major manufacturing 
industries. 
In relationship to all manufacturing in the South in 1982, 
forest industries employed one out of every nine workers, 
paid $1 out of every $10 in wages and salaries, and pro- 
duced $1 out of every $11 of value added to the economy 
by manufacturing. Aggregate employment and income in the 
forest industries across the South exceeded those in other 
major manufacturing industries, such as textiles, apparel, 
processed food, chemicals, electric and electronic 
equipment, nonelectrical machinery, and transportation 
equipment, including ships, boats, and aircraft. 
Although the industrial base of individual States varies 
across the South, forest industries represent a leading sec- 
tor in nearly all States. Forest industries rank first or sec- 
ond in importance among major industry groups in most 
States in the South. 
Forests and forest industries are clearly of great importance 
to the economy and society of the South. It is also clear 
that they have been increasing in importance in recent 
decades. 
6. The present economic importance of forests in the 
South reflects a great achievement in the history of 
forestry—the regeneration and growth of the second and 
third forests. 
To the first settlers in the South the forest was an unending 
wilderness—an obstacle to the use of the land for crops, 
grazing, and living space. But it also provided fuel and raw 
material for houses and furniture and commerce. Thus, as 
the population grew and the need for timber products and 
crop and grazing land expanded, increasing areas of forest 
land were cleared. The conversion continued until shortly 
after World War I. 
Timber harvesting was not a major factor affecting the for- 
ests until after the Civil War. But as railroads were ex- 
tended into the vast pine forests on the Coastal Plain, the 
technology for sawing large volumes of timber was put into 
practice; and, as huge markets for lumber developed in the 
Midwest and Northeast, timber harvesting accelerated. From 
about the 1880’s until the 1920’s, very large areas were 
harvested. Some of this land was used for crops and much 
bigger areas for pasture. Because of such use and the uncon- 
trolled fires that burned over large areas each year, only a 
part of the cutover lands came back to forests. 
