A few decades ago in the 1940’s, there 
were tens of thousands of small circular 
sawmills in the South. Most of these mills 
are gone. The sawmills of today are larger 
and much more efficient. Many have 
chipping headrigs, which convert portions of 
each log to chips for use in the pulp 
industry. 
increase to 3.1 billion cubic feet, or 25 percent above current 
levels. There is a slight decline after 2020. 
Most of the projected increase will be from forest industry 
land, where softwood supplies rise 85 percent by 2030. 
Forest industry land is projected to provide 46 percent of 
the softwood supplies in 2030, compared to the 31 percent 
actually supplied in 1984. Softwood supplies from other 
private land are projected to decrease by 7 percent. A 47- 
percent decrease in softwood supplies from farmer 
ownerships more than offsets the increase from corporate 
holdings. Projected supplies from land owned by other 
private individuals show little change. 
The major change in the source of projected softwood sup- 
plies by forest management type is the shift from natural 
stands to pine plantations. Currently, pine plantations in the 
Southeast provide about 430 million cubic feet of softwood 
supplies each year, or about 17 percent of the total. By 
2000, pine plantations will supply almost half of the soft- 
wood; by 2030 they will supply more than two-thirds. 
Trends in the South Central Region 
In the South Central region, softwood timber supplies were 
stable at about 1.3 billion cubic feet during the 1950’s but 
then began to rise, reaching a total of 2.6 billion cubic feet 
in 1984. This harvest increase was primarily due to expan- 
sion of the pulp and plywood industries and increased 
lumber production. 
Annual softwood pulpwood production rose from 6.4 million 
cords in 1962 to 12.7 million cords in 1984. Plant capacity 
tripled during the same period, from 22,000 to 65,000 tons 
per day. The total number of pulp mills rose from 42 to 
59, and average mill capacity increased from 500 to more 
than 1,100 tons per day. Most of the pulping capacity 
increase has occurred in the Coastal Plain States of 
Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, and the eastern part 
of Texas. Currently, Alabama leads South Central States 
in pulping capacity with 26 percent of the total. 
Softwood sawlog production dropped from 4.2 billion board 
feet to 3.2 billion board feet between 1952 and 1962 as 
many small sawmills closed down. Production then began 
rising to its current annual level of about 6.0 billion board 
feet. The softwood plywood industry became significant by 
1970 and by 1976 consumed 2.5 billion board feet 
annually. 
Of the 1.3 billion cubic feet of softwood supplied in 1952, 
61 percent came from other private owners and 29 percent 
from forest industry (app. table 3.22). Most of the harvest, 
90 percent, came from natural pine and mixed pine— 
hardwood stands (app. table 3.36). Softwood sawlogs 
accounted for 53 percent of softwood supplies. 
Softwood sawlog production had fallen dramatically by 
1962. No major changes in ownership of the softwood 
harvest were evident, and the source of most of the timber 
remained natural pine and mixed pine—hardwood stands. 
As the pulp and paper industry expanded in the South, total 
softwood supplies jumped from 1.3 to 1.8 billion cubic feet 
between 1962 and 1970. The harvest of natural pine 
increased to 74 percent of roundwood supplies, and the 
proportion supplied by forest industry increased to 38 
percent. Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas led the softwood 
supply increase (fig. 3.20). Lumber accounted for only 38 
percent of softwood supplies in 1970, while pulpwood 
jumped to 48 percent. 
By 1976, softwood supplies had again increased, to 2.4 
billion cubic feet. The proportion coming from industry 
lands rose to 39 percent. The proportion by forest type 
shifted from natural pine, which fell to 64 percent, to 
mixed stands and pine plantations, which accounted for 18 
percent and 7 percent, respectively. 
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