Population growth and urbanization present the largest changes and potential challenges to Southern forests.
But projections show that the forest industry's land base in northern Louisiana should fare better against those encroaching factors than land bases in Georgia and North Carolina, according to David Wear, project leader for forest economics and policy research for the U.S. Forestry Service's Southern Research Station in North Carolina.
And though the region has seen declining demand, production and price growth recently, it will be well stocked to meet future needs, he added.
"Timber supply is a long-term investment," Wear said. "Timber will be plentiful here for the next 20 or 30 years; we've done a good job planting forests."
More than 400 landowners, loggers, foresters and employees of forest products companies gathered Wednesday morning for the Louisiana Forestry Association annual meeting at Sam's Town Hotel and Casino in Shreveport.
Wear discussed economic projections for the forest industry in the Southern region. The coming challenges were numerous, he said.
Various scenarios showed urbanization and population growth leading to a loss of 20 million to 27 million acres of forest land use, coupled with low prices, lower forest density and a fragmentation of land ownership, Wear said. But while this would amount to less consistent and persistent overall growth, the Southern region should remain the largest timber producer in the world.
Projections show the largest population increases in the region between 2000 and 2030 would occur in southeastern states such as Florida and North Carolina. Louisiana is expected to grow just 7.5 percent during the same time period, Wear said.
With that growth comes development, and a loss in forest acreage. But Wear's projections showed only moderate development changes in store for Caddo and Bossier parishes.
To those in attendance, Wear's report was challenging and optimistic.
"I think it shows the stability of the industry," said Timothy Hall, a private landowner in Monroe who helps manage his family's tree farm in Bienville Parish. "It's nice to hear that the Southern pine industry is here to stay."
But population growth and urban development put significant pressure on the timber industry, he said. The solution, Hall added, involves proper conservation, good land management and the opportunity and necessity to explore new markets and new products.Shreveport Times
