their primary cooking fuel. Although there was some growth 
in the use of byproducts, bark, and similar materials by the 
wood-products industries in the 1960’s—partially stimulated 
by increasing concerns about the environmental effects of 
waste disposal—their direct use of roundwood was small. 
With the dramatic increases in fossil fuel prices in the 1970's 
and early 1980’s, an increasing number of households be- 
gan to use wood as the primary or as a secondary source of 
heat. By 1981, 22.2 million households (27 percent) used 
fuelwood and 28.7 million had wood-burning equipment in- 
stalled in their homes. Wood products manufacturers and, 
to some extent, other industries, including utilities, also in- 
creased their use of wood, as a result of the increasing 
costs of using other fuels and factors such as the incentives 
With the dramatic rise in fossil fuel prices contained in the National Energy Act of 1978 for cogen- 
that began in the mid-1970’s, many house- eration and use of fuels other than oil or gas. 
holds began to use wood for heating. By the 
early 1980's, 22 million households, over Despite continuing relatively high levels of consumption, 
a quarter of all households, used fuelwood. 
Nearly 29 million households had wood- 
burning equipment. 
{ 
{ 
1 
1 
104 
there are indications that the use of wood fuel for residen- 
tial heating has slowed or declined in the past 2 years or so, 
Million cords 
60 
40 Total 
\ 
Plant byproducts 
20 
00 
80 
60 
Hardwood roundwood 
40 
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 
Figure 3.6—Pulpwood production in the United States, by source of material, 1950-84, with projections to 2030 
